Samurai William

In 1611 an astonishing letter arrived at the East India Trading Company in London after a tortuous seven-year journey. Englishman William Adams was one of only twenty-four survivors of a fleet of ships bound for Asia, and he had washed up in the forbidden land of Japan. The traders were even more amazed to learn that, rather than be horrified by this strange country, Adams had fallen in love with the barbaric splendour of Japan - and decided to settle. He had forged a close friendship with the ruthless Shogun, taken a Japanese wife and sired a new, mixed-race family. Adams' letter fired up the London merchants to plan a new expedition to the Far East, with designs to trade with the Japanese and use Adams' contacts there to forge new commercial links. SAMURAI WILLIAM brilliantly illuminates a world whose horizons were rapidly expanding eastwards.

William Adams blev verdensberømt i 1970erne, idet han var modellen for hovedpersonen i James Clavells berømte roman og tv-serie Shogun. Nu er han igen hovedperson i en bog, men denne gang ikke nogen roman. I Samurai William fortæller den engelske journalist og forfatter, Giles Milton , på grundlag af samtidige kilder den sande, men ikke mindre spændende beretning om manden, der åbnede Japan for Vesten.