FUTURE PROJECTS
My next book for Helion will be about one of the most famous names in samurai history: Oda Nobunaga, Japan’s first unifier and the samurai commander who is regarded a key player in Japan’s military revolution through his mastery of firearms. I have however found him to be a man of mystery.
I leave the reader to explore my conclusions about Oda Nobunaga and to assess the evidence I use. For example, readers may be surprised at how much new material is available about the battle of Nagashino, which we can now see in an entirely different light. There is also a wealth of fresh illustrative detail based on new discoveries such as Nobunaga’s flags and the secret meaning they conveyed. Finally, why was he alone in 1582 when he was killed? Where were his famous Horse Guards who had always protected him?
Can you spot the almost hidden message on his flags above?
AVAILABLE LATE 2025
Oda Nobunaga:
Samurai Commander
1534-1582
MONKS, MERCENARIES AND MUSKETS
The warriors who defied the samurai
1428-1620
The samurai were never Japan’s only warriors. There were several alternatives, some of whom fought under the banner of a sacred three-legged crow and cherished legends of holy men appearing in the sky or riding into battle on the backs of giant octopuses. Yet whatever fantasy they may have embraced off the battlefield, in the mundane reality of Japanese warfare these very same warriors were among the first to deploy firearms in anger and were almost certainly the first to use them effectively. Some had been ordained as Buddhist monks, others fought as mercenaries, while separate communities defended stockaded fortresses that were built among trackless swamps. When they were not fighting each other they mounted a defiant challenge to the development of the samurai class as Japan’s unique warrior elite, and in so doing they almost changed the course of Japanese history. This book will tell their story for the first time.
AVAILABLE LATE 2026/EARLY 2027
