Danny Chaplin

Japan's Sengoku jidai ('Warring States Period') was a time of crisis and upheaval, a chaotic epoch when the relatively low-born rural military class of 'bushi' (samurai warriors) succeeded in overthrowing their social superiors in the court throughout much of the country. Into this tumultuous age of constant warfare came three remarkable individuals: Oda Nobunaga (1534-1582), Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537-1598), and Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543-1616). Each would play a unique role in the re-unification of the disparate, fragmented collection of warring provinces which constituted Japan in the sixteenth and early seventeenth-centuries. This new narrative history of the sengoku era draws together the epic strands of their three stories for the first time. It offers a coherent survey of the Azuchi-Momoyama Period (1568-1600) under both Nobunaga and Hideyoshi, followed by the founding years of the Tokugawa shogunate (1600-1616). Every pivotal battle fought by each of these three hegemons is explored in depth from Okehazama (1560) and Nagashino (1575) to Sekigahara (1600) and the Two Sieges of Osaka Castle (1614-15). In addition, the political and administrative underpinnings of their rule is also examined, as well as the marginal role played by western foreigners ('nanban') and the Christian religion in early modern Japanese society. In its scope, the story of Japan's three unifiers ('the Fool', 'the Monkey', and 'the Old Badger') is a sweeping saga encompassing acts of unimaginable cruelty as well as feats of great samurai heroism which were venerated and written about long into the peaceful Edo/Tokugawa period.

Three Unifiers of Japan

Sengoku Jidai. Nobunaga, Hideyoshi, and Ieyasu

Some called him "The Scourge of Princes" whilst to others he was a rogue and a scoundrel. This is a new biography of Pietro Aretino, the sixteenth-century poet, satirist, journalist, publicist, propagandist, art critic, social climber, Lothario, pornographer and blackmailer of kings, popes and emperors. It is the astonishing story of a man who began life as the penniless son of a cobbler and his wife, the town harlot, who rose to amuse Pope Leo X, infuriate Pope Adrian VI with his acerbic pasquinades, and befriend Pope Clement VII. Minted as a Knight of Rhodes, given a pension (and a golden necklace of lying tongues) by the King of France, and permitted to ride at the side of the Emperor Charles V, Pietro Aretino refused to allow his humble social origins to define him. An entirely self-created individual, "The Divine Aretino" was arguably the first modern "celebrity." He was the close friend of perhaps the greatest Venetian artist of his era, Titian. His "Lustful Sonnets" scandalised all of Rome, he had the audacity to teach Michelangelo how to paint The Last Judgement, whilst his bestselling collections of candid and personable Letters leave us with a vivid account of life in sixteenth-century Venice. This is the engaging portrait of a man, a poet, a lover, and a survivor in turbulent times. This "revised edition" provides several updates as well as a slightly larger typeface for those with reading difficulties.

The First Modern [Revised Edition]

Pietro Aretino

Some called him "The Scourge of Princes" whilst to others he was a rogue and a scoundrel. This is a new biography of Pietro Aretino, the sixteenth-century poet, satirist, journalist, publicist, propagandist, art critic, social climber, lothario, pornographer and blackmailer of Kings, Popes and Emperors. It is the astonishing story of a man who began life as the penniless son of a cobbler and his wife, the town harlot, who rose to amuse Pope Leo X, infuriate Pope Adrian VI with his acerbic pasquinades, and befriend Pope Clement VII. Minted as a Knight of Rhodes, given a pension (and a golden necklace of lying tongues) by the King of France, and permitted to ride at the side of the Emperor Charles V, Pietro Aretino refused to allow his modest social beginnings to define him. An entirely self-created individual, "The Divine Aretino" was arguably the first modern celebrity. He was the close friend of perhaps the greatest Venetian artist of his era, Titian. His "Lustful Sonnets" scandalised all of Rome, he had the nerve to teach Michelangelo how and what to paint, whilst his bestselling collections of candid and personable Letters leave us with an astonishingly vivid account of life in sixteenth-century Venice. This is the engaging portrait of a man, a poet, a lover, and a survivor in turbulent times.

Danny Chaplin

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