The Imjin War: Japan's Sixteenth-Century Invasion of Korea and Attempt to Conquer China by Samuel HawleyMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
What a whirlwind. The Japanese overrun Korea in order to Conquer China, then get sent back, then return, and get sent back again. This will end up involving not only those three countries, but soldiers from as far as Thailand, Okinawa and Indonesia, the Spanish and the Portuguese, Catholic priests (including the first documented westerner to set foot in Korea), more games and tricks than Romance of the 3 kingdoms or game of thrones, and characters like Hideyoshi, Yi Sun-shin (probably the most underrated admiral/general ever), the Red robe general and Big Sword Liu. Anyway, so many other things were happening due to this war as well, such as Korean potters being taken to Japan and spreading new pottery styles (and neo-Confucianism), Japanese and Chinese negotiators forging documents so as to reach a peace settlement their rulers knew nothing about, slave traders buying Korean prisoners in Nagasaki and taking them to India and Europe, Catholic Japanese generals infighting with Buddhist Japanese generals, Korean political factions infighting amongst each other, bilingual double agents spreading misinformation, new weapons and ingenious tactical methods, etc. etc. This book does a great job of detailing the events in a coherent and chronological manner. It is a heavy, long, book, but definitely worth reading.
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