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Article: The Last Samurai: The Life and Battles of Saigo Takamori.(Book review)
- Article from:
- The Historian
- Article date:
- September 22, 2005
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2005 Phi Alpha Theta, History Honor Society, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The Last Samurai: The Life and Battles of Saigo Takamori. By Mark Ravina. (Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons, 2004. Pp. xvi, 265. $24.95.)
This new biography of Saigo Takamori [1827-1877] will do much to help Americans understand not only Saigo's historical significance but also why he continues to enthrall a great many Japanese. There are other studies of Saigo in English, but Mark Ravina's book adds importantly to the existing literature in at least two ways.
First, Ravina has gone to greater lengths than others to visit all of the locations that were important in Saigo's life and to meet with many of the key Saigo scholars, both amateur and ...