The Book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi
591375
This book is a perfect example of delving into the mind of a GREAT! warrior and tactician. This book entails the Bushido code of Feudal Japans' greatest warrior,Miyamoto Musashi. He embodies Bushido. It's a great read. Thank You.
4225271
One of the reviewers of this book used the fact that Soke's creative use of the Japanese language was the source of much of his wisdom. For those interested in language then this description would seem sufficient.

I would suggest to the would-be reader however, that Hatsumi-sensei is first and foremost a budoka and the source of his 'wisdom' stems from his martial art. Soke himself has written that it is his understanding of martial arts that allows him to successfully perform other arts. It is encumbent on the reader, certainly for those who are students of the Bujinkan, to see this book from the perspective of the martial arts.

This book is another testament to the persistance and creativity of Hatsumi-sensei. Forever finding the next step, Soke is always able to continue and, in his own words, 'keep going'. This book is a MUST for any student of Hatsumi-sensei's Bujinkan art.
3486762
The second installment is also great. It's not a modern men of action novel. It is well written,very human. I like that the author has him(musashi) come to his ideals and his new way of thinking thru trial and error,it makes the character seem like a real person not a character from a past era. Overall great deal paid just less than 5 dollars for this book and worth every penny. NOTE: If a person has a mind to they can just buy the book(hardback or softcover) all in one. Amazon has it for sale also for about 20 bucks HC new about 14-15 used. Enjoy!!!
3057606
Excellent book.  Full of very clear photos of all aspects of Japanese swords, the different types and styles, as well as the making of the sword.  The author, Yoshindo Yoshihara-sama is recognized as one of the finest living Japanese swordsmiths, so in my opinion this book is golden.  Took a few days to ship, then arrived very quickly, and in brand new condition, as advertised.  I highly recommend it for Japanese sword enthusiasts.  Five stars.
3544458
Lord of the Rings Review

In this epic trilogy by J.R.R Tolkien, you will be mystified by the great battles and conflicts of the Lord of the Rings. The genius who wrote these books was so thorough that he even made a whole alphabet and language with vividly descriptive maps to describe all the creatures and areas of Middle Earth. This trilogy is so great in description that it will change how you judge other epic series such as the "Chronicles of Narnia". If you think that you might not be ready to read a long trilogy such as this, I would recommend another one of J.R.R Tolkien's books - The Hobbit, another book about a Hobbit named Bilbo Baggins who is Frodo's uncle.

  This story starts out in the Shire, a small part of Middle Earth where lazy, fat hobbits live and love to eat work and sleep. They also love parties. Hobbits' regularly eat 2 breakfasts, one brunch, three lunches, dinner, and finally, supper.  Two of the main characters are Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee who are both Hobbits from the Shire.

In early Middle Earth, Saroun the Dark Lord made 19 rings. Three for the elves, six for the dwarves, nine for men, and one to bind them together. Saroun gave away all of the rings except for the final one. When the creatures of Middle Earth saw the power that Saroun had, they came together to destroy him, but when they finally defeated Saroun the greedy men kept the Ring instead of destroying the Ring by throwing it into Mordor. The temptation of the ring was too much and they never fully destroyed Saroun. On the way home however, the men with the Ring were ambushed by the remaining orcs and the man holding the Ring jumped into a nearby lake and put on the ring, which gives you the power to become invisible.  As he was swimming, the ring fell off and he was visible again and the orcs shot him with arrows and killed him and the ring was lost in the water.

  A few generations later the Ring was found by two Hobbits, one known by the name of Golom or Smeagol. Smeagol and his friend fought over the Ring until Smeagol finally strangled his friend and takes the ring for himself. Then Smeagol has the Ring taken away from him in a dark troll cave by a clever Hobbit named Bilbo Baggins who is on an journey (which is very unlike Hobbits) with the wizard Gandalf the Grey.  Bilbo brings the Ring back to the Shire and passes it down to Frodo.

When the great wizard Gandalf sees that Frodo Baggins has the Ring of power  he gives him a mission to travel with a small band of heroes, including himself, to Mt. Mordor so they can destroy the Ring (and Saroun) once and for all.  These heroes go through the forests of the fine elves, the mines of the hard working dwarves, and the great palaces of men to get to Mordor before Saroun destroys them all. In the many battles that follow, it is back and forth with good vs. evil. While the good warriors fight Saroun and his army, Frodo and his helper, Sam Gamgee, travel with their guide Smeagol to Mt. Mordor. During the journey to Mordor, Smeagol is planning to reclaim his ring by killing the Hobbits.

 The problem is that the ring Frodo carries is very powerful and tempting to anyone that gets near it. This was a big problem because the creatures that are most tempted by the ring are the ones that have power but still want more . The problem is only solved at the end when Frodo finally throws the ring into the flames of Mount Mordor and both the ring and Saroun are destroyed.

Another problem before the ring was destroy was Saroun's army.  To overcome this difficulty all the good creatures of Middle Earth came together and fight in many battles until the final one when the men, elves, dwarves, eagles, and ents destroyed all of the orcs.

I would give these books a 10 out of 10 ratting especially for the 3rd book, The Return of the King, my favorite book.
1545240
This splendid very enlightening series of five commentaries on the Five Books of Moses, the Pentateuch, reveals the plain meaning of the Torah text rather than presenting synagogue-type sermons. The authors of the forty-six essays in this volume, as well as the essays in the other four volumes of this series, consider the Torah a sacred text revealed by God and feel that people should know what it actually says rather than sermons based rather loosely upon its wording. This series is important because, unfortunately, there are not many books on the Torah that disclose what the Torah is saying.

 The very title of this volume is revealing. Most rabbis, those more interested in imaginative Midrashim rather than exposing what the Torah is saying, accept what their teachers said. Their teachers mispronounced the name of this book as Bamidbar and Midrash as medrish. Despite the ubiquitous mispronunciations, the editors of this volume used the correct term, the actual word that begins this fourth book of the Torah.

The forty-six essays in this work are by fifteen knowledgeable scholars, who write in easily understandable English, including fourteen male rabbis, one female rabbanit, and one female PhD lecturer and author. Rather than focusing on the lesson that can be derived from a single words or even a single letter, the methodology of Midrashim, a methodology that overlooks the forest while focusing on a leaf of a tree, they base their examinations on an entire story, episode, or narrative, or in some cases on different books of the Bible, while they search for the meaning and significance of what is being said. They use literary tools to understand the Torah, for the Torah is literature, divine literature, written not in a special divine language but in the language and style of man.

Among much else in these essays, the authors discuss and explain the significance of the first-born, levites, and priests in Judaism; why the Torah tells the Israelite census more than once; rounding numbers in the Torah; Mosess crisis of leadership; the mission of the spies; did Moses act improperly in sending spies to Canaan; what was the difference between Kalev and Joshua; what does the Torah mean when it states that the earth opened its mouth; a commentary on Balaams prophecies; what happened with the daughters of Tzlofhad; the meaning of the war with Midian; what are the boundaries of Israel; and much else.

In summary, this series of five books is important in that it will help introduce readers to what the Torah is actually saying and will show them how they can read the text.
2839384
I think that The Fellowship of the Ring is an exciting book about a hobbit called Frodo Baggins who inherits a ring with power off his uncle Bilbo Baggins. Frodo Baggins begins his journey to destroy the Ring. On his way he comes across nine dark riders who are trying to destroy him and the ring!
  This book seemed to transport me into another world!
 I think that if you've not read this then you have to, it is an *eye-opener*
912735
Excelent book, i love it, 1000% recomended, is very descripted, i love the characters and the history, completed the lord of the rings saga
3729092
This is a 16th century treaty of Daidoji Yuzan, first published in English in 1941, that is a collection of the regulations of Bushido.  Originally compiled as a training text for young samurai, the Code details the "honor system" necessary for quality "service".

The book is divided into 3-parts, containing 43 sub-chapters dealing with a broad range of subjects such as morals, ethics, duty, thrift, weapons, bravery, respect, shame, reputation, service, theft, laziness, and death to name a few.

It is written in typical samurai style, "One who is a samurai, even though but a small retainer, certainly ought to provide himself with a suitable instructor and study the traditional military arts so that he knows all there is to be known on the subject."  This is a historical masterpiece, but is certainly not a history book full of stories.  If you are interested in warrior philosophy, this is a good start.
3539694
A nice and informative book about Bushido.
It includes the vivid things behind the Japanese samurai.
I like reading this book. Good read!
752824
Even though I liked Musashi's Book of Five Rings better, this informative text explains the philosopical principles of Zen as it relates to swordsmanship.  The advice and lessons in this text are of  value for anyone who follows the way of the warrior. The two texts every serious martial artist should have in his/her library is this one and Musashi's book of five rings.  Reading this book first will make it easier to understand other treatises having to do with Budo(way of the warrior).
In conclusion, this book is a classic for all martial artists.

Rating: 4 Stars. Joseph J. Truncale (Author: Martial Art Myths--Cafe Press).
1561925
The Silmarillion, considered by some to be the greatest work of J.R.R.Tolkien. Published one year after his death The Silmarillion tells of the mythology and the history of the Elves. "In the beginning there was Eru, the one, who in the elven tongue is called Illuvatar..." so says the Valaquenta, one of the five parts of The Silmarillion. The Silmarillion tells of the evil of the first dark lord Morgoth, and his many attempts to darken Arda, the world. Morgoth will stop at nothing to destroy and corrupt the world. Yet there is hope for the great elves have the help of the Valar, those who are basically gods. I would recommend this title to only those which belong to the group  of the Tolkiendili, or lovers of his work. This book is written in a format which would bore many to sleep, a form much akin to a bible. Now for my critique of the edition. This edition of The Silmarillion is a great edition. The printing is very good, and almost never if ever a mistake. The maps are excellent, the appendix of names and the index are very great, and help me very often. I suggest this edition to any person who wants a nice version of The Silmarillion but doesn't want to buy a Collecters edition.
4245144
Musashi Miyamoto was an accomplished artist and writer, though he is most widely known as a warrior who was also an artist/writer. This book describes a few years when as a teenager in 17th century Japan he is living with his uncle - a temple priest. He was abandoned by his samurai father, and he spends a lot of time thinking through the mysterious circumstances surrounding the death of his mother. With most of his day-to-day interaction taking place with his pacifist uncle, he must decide his future. He can follow his father's path and become a samurai warrior or become a monk and live his life in the peaceful and scholarly environment of a temple.

While this is a work of historical fiction, it is probably more fiction as there are few details of Miyamoto's younger years. That's ok though as David Kirk has the literary skills to weave the known and unknown into a story that is at once believable and extraordinary. Japanese culture of the 17th century is on full display as are the universal elements of the human condition.

I highly recommend this book.
4282798
Amazing book just got half way done with it. Would recommend it highly to anyone who loves Legend of the 5 Rings.
3676822
This is the first book that Diane Skoss has edited on the classical warrior traditions of Japan. This is the first English language general book on Koryu Bujutsu since  Donn Drager. This book gives us westerner some insights into Japanese arts. This is a good addition to the library of  anyone who studies Japanese Martial Arts or the history of asian Martial Arts.
4017175
The Sillamarillion is a great book.  It's a prequel in a way to the Lord of the Rings series.  It tells the Tales of the first and second ages.  The original Dark lord Morgath, Feanor and his sons, the forging of the Sillamarils.  This books has any type of tales you could want.  Love stories such as that of Beren and Luthien, to the adventures Turin Turimbar.  I think anyone who reads this book will enjoy it greatly.  Although I strongly suggest reading The Lord of the Rings first to get a Idea of what they are talking about.
1334726
This book tells the tale of the Samurai, and therefore Japan itself, from their beginnings in Ancient times through the Gempei Wars and the Mongol Invasions, all through the Sengoku Jidai Period up to their official destruction in 1877, at the Battle of Ueno on 4 July.  It also depicts sohei warrior monks and ninja assasins, as well as the Samurais' lesser compatriots, the ashigaru footmen and the ronin 'men of the waves', Samurai with no lord or cause.  The text is detailed enough to provide a thorough introduction but is easy to read for someone who knows little or nothing of the topic.  The artwork by James Field is incredible, providing nearly as much detail on the Samurai and their arsenal as the text, and capturing both the beauty and the carnage of their armor and their battles.