Nagashino 1575: Slaughter at the Barricades

by Stephen Turnbull

Book Overview

Osprey's examination of the campaign at Nagashino in 1575. When Portuguese traders took advantage of the constant violence in Japan to sell the Japanese their first firearms, one of the quickest to take advantage of this new technology was the powerful daimyo Oda Nobunaga. In 1575 the impetuous Takeda Katsuyori laid siege to Nagashino castle, a possession of Nobunaga's ally, Tokugawa Ieyasu. An army was despatched to relieve the siege, and the two...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1855326191
• ISBN13: 9781855326194
• Release Date: March 2000
• Publisher: Osprey Publishing (UK)
• Length: 96 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.8" x 8.7"

Customer Reviews

Excellent primer for the Warring States Period

This is another excellent outing by Turnbull in which he details one of the most significant battles of the "Warring States period" A period of civil wars in Japan that lasted about 150 years from the mid 15th century through the very end of the 16th. The battle itself was significant for its cementing of Oda Nobunaga hold over much of Japan and for the use of massed musketry on the battlefield. Beyond covering the battle itself, Turnbull's work here is an excellent summary of the period, the people, the gear and the politics. Volumes have been written about the Warring States period, some of it by Trumbull himself, and it can be fascinating reading but it can also be very over whelming for the beginning student. In a very few pages Trumbull sums up the period for the casual student, putting in prospective the famous names and feuds which dominate this turbulent part of Japanese history. He also gives a very good cover of weapons and armor in the period and the place of samurai and commoner foot soldiers who were developing from the previous peasant rabble. When westerners hear about Samurai battles we think of Japanese knights with swords in brightly colored armor but Turnbull explained that by 1575 musketry was a part of Japanese armies and great lords were organizing their armies around this weapon in ways very similar to how corresponding Europeans were also developing fire arms and tactics. "Nagashino 1575" is a very good book on an important battle in Japanese history, but its true value lies in its ability to act as a basic primer for the entire Warring States period of Japanese history. If you have an interest in this or would like just an easy to handle look into the period, then THIS is the book to start with.

One of the Most Important Samurai Battles Reviewed

Stephen Turnbull is one of the best known scholars and active writers on the subject of samurai history. His book on Nagashino battle is probably a demonstration of what Dr. Turnbull does the best - case study. The Nagashino starts with with historical background and goes thoroughly through the description of opposing armies, personalities of commanders and other key figures (including among others Okudaira Sadamasa, whose determined resistance to Takeda army in Nagashino castle played its part in making Takeda Katsuyori accept the challenge to fight the fatal for the clan of Takeda battle). Further the author describes in detail the structure of armies, tactics and strategy of Takeda and Oda/Tokugawa forces, the battle itself and aftermath. Those interested in samurai loyalty will be interested in description of a famous incident when one of Tokugawa samurai, Torii Sune'emon captured by Takeda warriors and offered to serve the new lord. Sune'emon defied Katsuyori's orders and was killed. However, he was admired by both armies alike and one of the commanders of Takeda army was so impressed by Sune'emon's deed that he adopted a picture of the brave samurai on his banner!The book is full of colour plates, maps and pictures of the battleground and provides wealth of information on the one of the most important battles in Japanese medieval history. During Nagashino Oda Nobunaga introduced volley arquebus fire, which forever changed the samurai warfare burying the old school of cavalry charge (Takeda army was famous for its cavalry attacks) of elite mounted warriors. The impact of Nagashino was felt by samurai commanders through Sekigahara.

A great extensive case study of the infamous battle

This book is very thorough in its descriptions of the battle, its weaponary and the outcome. It also includes great information with regards to individual samurai and how their previous experience may have influenced the battle outcome. The information from this book alone is worth the buy. You can hardly find any book as such outside Japan. However, the only fuss I have is that the book could have been published with better binding or include a hardcover edition. The binding is so bad that you might ruined the book in the process of trying to get a better view of its contents. Other than that, it's a book that must not be missed by students of Sengoku Jidai.

A Clash of Tactics & Technology in Medieval Japan

The strengths of this Osprey Campaign series title are its excellent art work and maps, very detailed order of battle data, numerous modern photographs of the battlefield and the author's intimate knowledge of Japanese 17th Century warfare. The description of both the siege of Nagashino Castle and the battle are well-written. However the author falls a bit short in the area of military analysis. The Takeda Army was renowned for its cavalry - about 27% of its army - and Turnbull makes great effort to show the defensive measures that Oda Nobunaga and Ieyasu Tokugawa took to stop this cavalry. Yet Turnbull provides no detailed information on Japanese Samurai cavalry tactics or why the Takeda cavalry was so formidable. Turnbull does provide good detail on the arquebus corps and how it was used. Finally, the entire rationale for the Takeda attacking a relief force that was three times its size is never explained. In this account, it appears rather foolhardy and almost suicidal. The bibliography is quite sparse and the wargaming notes (not written by Turnbull) are the usual silly 'matrix' and 'disguised scenario' sort. This is a good complimentary work on a less known battle, but it could use a little more depth and a little less "fluffy" artwork.

Excellent Work by the Don of Samurai Military History

In Nagashino 1575, Stephen Turnbull again makes a valuable contribution to the limited body of works on samurai military history available in the English language. As in his earlier books, Mr. Turnbull gives as detailed a strategic and tactical account of the battle of Nagashino as is possible from the limitations of the historical sources. As in his earlier works, however, the author is careful to give a fair appraisal of the accuracy of the source. The book also balances the details with a overview of the events leading to the battle, as well as a general introduction to the players who will be well-known to samurai history fans, but likely unknown to anyone else. In addition to an interesting narrative, like other the volumes of Osprey's two Campaign and Men-at-Arms series, this book is full of illustrations and descriptions of the arms and equipment of the armies involved. The book's only defect is in its binding; the inner edges of the large 2-page illustrations disappear into the crease and hide the center portion of the image. Nevertheless, this book's many color and black-and-white illustrations will prove very useful to miniaturists and its maps an excellent resource for wargamers. This is a 5-star book for anyone with an interest in samurai warfare.