Samurai William

In 1611, a startling letter arrived at the East India Company in London after a seven-year voyage. 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 merchants were even more astonished to learn that, rather than being horrified by this strange land, Adams had fallen in love with the barbaric splendor of Japan - and had decided to settle there. He had formed a close friendship with the ruthless Shogun, taken a Japanese wife and become a part of a new family of mixed descent. Adams' letter prompted the merchants of London to plan a new expedition to the Far East, planning to trade with the Japanese and use Adams' contacts there to forge new trade links. SAMURAI WILLIAM brilliantly illuminates a world whose horizons were rapidly expanding eastward.