Training the Samurai Mind: A Bushido Sourcebook Book

This book contains excerpts of the writings of twenty-two samurai from the fourteenth century through the mid-nineteenth century. While it does contain some of the well-known names such as Kaibara Ekken and Yamamoto Tsunetomo, the bulk of the text focuses on lesser-known samurai. The writings focus on both the political and technical aspects of war and approach the subject from multiple viewpoints, which are sometimes contradictory. The text assumes at least a basic understanding of Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, and Legalism, but it does contain a glossary of key figures and events. Cleary's translations are easy to follow. Overall, I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the different lenses through which the samurai understood warfare with the caveat that it does require some prior knowledge of East Asian religious/philosophical systems, and knowledge of major events in China and Japan during the time period is helpful, but not absolutely necessary.