Shgun is a 1975 novel by James Clavell and has been a very successful book. It has withstood the test of time. The story is set in feudal Japan during the 1600s. The story is told partly through the eyes of the first Englishman to set foot in Japan. John Blackthorne, an English pilot serving on the Dutch warship Erasmus, is the first English pilot to reach Japan. England and Holland seek to disrupt Portuguese relations with Japan and establish ties of their own through trade and military alliance.
The book explores the tensions between the Catholic Church and the powerful feudal warlords of Japan, the rivalry between the various warlords as they scheme and vie with each other to become Shogun of all Japan.
The book portrays the Japan warlords as adept, talented and complex characters and reveals a great deal about Japanese cultural ideas. The racist attitudes of the English pilot John Blackthorne change as he learns more about the Japanese people and their ways. While he is central to the story he is however not the most important or powerful personality. To the warlords the Englishman is a potential weapon in their battle to secure the most powerful position in Japan of being Shogun. The story however also has at its heart a love story. The book explores divided loyalties and allegiances. However in the end don't forget the book is really about Japan and its warlords, not the Englishman.
I don't often reread fiction books, but I have read Shogun several times and with good reason!
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