Japan World History

「織田信長が生涯怖がったのは信玄よりも謙信。『謙信が来るのであれば自分は戦わない。扇子一本携えてお迎えする』と言ったと伝えられている。…」 歴史小説の巨匠・海音寺潮五郎(1901~1977)が語る上杉謙信の人間像。聞き手:三國一朗1976年にNHKラジオ第1で放送された「歴史と人間」をオーディオブック化。

「家康は、現代で言うところの“天才”“奇才”ではない。もっとスケールが違う人物だった。」 小説「徳川家康」の著者・山岡荘八(1907~1978)が語る徳川家康の人間像。聞き手:三國一朗1976年にNHKラジオ第1で放送された「歴史と人間」をオーディオブック化。

2013年NHK大河ドラマ「八重の桜」のヒロイン・新島八重と、その兄・山本覚馬の、波乱に満ちた生涯と絆を描いた作品。戊辰戦争の際、会津・鶴ヶ城で自ら銃を持って戦った女性、八重。のちに、アメリカ帰りで同志社創立に奔走していた新島襄と出会い、結婚します。そんな八重に大きな影響を与えたのが、17歳離れた兄の覚馬です。覚馬は、京都で薩摩藩に捕らえられながらも、「世界の中の日本」を見据えた獄中からの建白書で、西郷隆盛らに高く評価された人物。明治という激動の時代に、会津魂を胸に力強く生きた兄妹の絆、八重と襄の夫婦の絆、そして、理想に向かって邁進する姿が心を打ちます。早乙女貢作「明治の兄妹 新島八重と山本覚馬」(新人物往来社)を再構成してオーディオブック化しました。

「信長は天才であり、天才が免れることのできない宿命としての異常性格を持っていて、突飛な行動をとる。しかしそれが桶狭間の戦いでは功を奏した…」 直木賞作家・豊田穣(1920~1994)が語る織田信長の人間像。聞き手:三國一朗1977年にNHKラジオ第1で放送された「歴史と人間」をオーディオブック化。

「秀吉は卑しい身分の出身とされているが、やることが下卑ていない。実はそれほど血筋の悪い人物ではなかったのではないかという気がする…」 時代小説の巨匠で直木賞作家・池波正太郎(1923~1990)が語る豊臣秀吉の人間像。聞き手:三國一朗1976年にNHKラジオ第1で放送された「歴史と人間」をオーディオブック化。

「半兵衛は歴史の影に身を隠そうとした男。身を隠したがゆえに、三国志における諸葛孔明のような伝説がついてまわるようになった…」 劇作家・福田善之が語る竹中半兵衛の人間像。聞き手:三國一朗1979年にNHKラジオ第1で放送された「人物春秋」をオーディオブック化。

「信玄は戦いに強い“攻める武将”であるという印象が強いかも知れないが、実際の信玄は、“治める武将”つまり政治家として優れていた…」 歴史小説「武田信玄」の著者で直木賞作家・新田次郎(1912~1980)が語る信玄の人間像。聞き手:三國一朗1977年にNHKラジオ第1で放送された「歴史と人間」をオーディオブック化。

「大坂夏の陣での真田軍の突撃は凄まじく、徳川軍の中には一里も逃げた者もいたという。敗れたとはいえ後世に武名を轟かせる結果となった…」 時代小説の巨匠で直木賞作家・池波正太郎(1923~1990)が語る真田幸村の人間像。聞き手:三國一朗1978年にNHKラジオ第1で放送された「歴史と人間」をオーディオブック化。

March 1942: The world is at war. Too old to fight and with jobs scarce at home, Tom Phelps found work as a carpenter in the goldfields of the New Guinea Highlands. No one expected the Japanese to attack in the Pacific. But they did. Tom and his mates weren't going to hang around and wait to be killed. With escape routes bombed by the Japanese, their only option was to try to reach safety by foot, through some of the most rugged terrain on Earth - the Bulldog Track. Back home in Sydney, Rose Phelps, their son, George, and three daughters, Joy, Shirley and Ann, waited for news of Tom's fate.

The classic first-hand WWII narrative that chronicles the Marines’ savage five-day struggle to wrest Mount Suribachi from its tenacious Japanese defenders during their 35-day battle for Iwo Jima in 1945. Revised with a new introduction by the author and recently discovered photos, this book served as invaluable source material both for James Bradley’s best-seller Flags of Our Fathers as well as Clint Eastwood’s acclaimed film of the same name.

The Japanese Tea Ceremony and the Shoguns is a concise historical overview of the evolution of cha-no-yu - that uniquely Japanese ritual, the tea ceremony - and how it was used in Japan by the shoguns and other political powers between the 12th and 20th centuries to validate position and consolidate power. The contributions of leading tea masters of the past are summarized. A description of a typical tea ceremony is provided, together with a discussion of the appropriate environment and utensils.

Throughout the late 1970s and early '80s, dozens of Japanese citizens were abducted from coastal Japanese towns by North Korean commandos. In what proved to be part of a global project, North Korea attempted to reeducate the abductees and train them to spy on the state's behalf. When the project faltered, the abductees were hidden in a series of guarded communities known as "Invitation-Only Zones" - the fiction being that these were exclusive enclaves, not prisons.

In late 1944 the Allies invaded the Japanese-held Philippines, and soon the end of the Pacific War was within reach. But for the last 150 American prisoners of war still held on the island of Palawan, there would be no salvation. As soldiers, sailors, and marines were herded into shallow air raid shelters, Japanese soldiers doused them with gasoline and set them on fire. By the next morning, only 11 men were left alive - but their desperate journey to freedom had just begun.

There was a place far worse than Changi - Singapore's Outram Road Gaol. Deprivation here was so extreme that there really was a fate worse than death. Stubborn Buggers is the story of 12 Australian POWs who fought and survived the battle for Malaya, then captivity and slave labour, followed by the unimaginable hardships of Outram Road Gaol.

It is a story of how they dealt with the brutality of the Japanese military police, the feared Kempeitai.

In 1942, the Solomon Islands formed the stepping stones toward Rabaul, the main base of Japanese operations in the South Pacific, and the Allies primary objective. The stunning defeat of Japanese forces at the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal in November marked the turning point in the war against Japan and the start of an offensive in the Central Solomons aimed at New Georgia. New Georgia: The Second Battle for the Solomons tells the story of the land, sea, and air battles fought there from March through October 1943.

The saga of the flags on Iwo Jima has fascinated America for decades. Hammel himself grew up in the company of WWII veterans and has always been intrigued by the photo of the flag, which became a powerful symbol of patriotism and national pride. But the story of how the flag got there, and even the identity of the soldiers in the photo, has been muddied by history. Eric Hammel here sets the record straight, viewing complex events through the lens of the story of the infantry company in which all the flag raisers served.

The best way for today's sailors to learn about a battle is from those who fought it. The Battle of Midway, commemorated annually in the US Navy, warrants close attention. This Naval Institute guide includes some of the most vibrant and informed accounts by individuals who fought on both sides of the June 1942 battle. The anthology pulls together memoirs, articles, excerpts from other Naval Institute books, and relevant government documents to help listeners understand what happened and explain why the battle was so significant to the naval service.

This is not just another book about Pearl Harbor. It is the story of Joseph Grew, America’s ambassador to Japan, and his frantic effort in the months before the Pearl Harbor attack to orchestrate an agreement between Japan and the United States to avoid the war he saw coming. It is a story filled with hope and heartache, with complex and fascinating characters, and with a drama befitting the momentous decisions at stake.

In February 1945, American Marines plunged into the surf at Iwo Jima - and into history. Through a hail of machine-gun and mortar fire that left the beaches strewn with comrades, they battled to the island's highest peak and raised a flag. Now the son of one of the flag raisers has written a powerful account of six very different men who came together in a moment that will live forever.

Immediately after Japan's December 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt sought to restore the honor of the United States with a dramatic act of vengeance: a retaliatory bombing raid on Tokyo itself. In those early days of World War II, America was ill-prepared for any sort of warfare. But FDR was not to be dissuaded, and at his bidding a squadron of scarcely trained army fliers, led by the famous daredevil Jimmy Doolittle, set forth on what everyone regarded as a suicide mission.