The book not a technically accurate in some instances, but a good introduction to a culture and civilization which is often unnecessarily portrayed as inscrutible.Some military misconceptions: bushido is portrayed as a tangible code of rules instead of an ambiguous warrior ethic. They say that the Way of archery (kyudo) was Japan's first martial art and that it existed before the Way of the spear (yarido), which in turn existed before the Way of the sword (kendo), but the Way refers to peaceful applications of deadly arts, which are more accurately (though not universally) referred to as kyujutsu, yarijutsu, and kenjutsu. In another instance, it says, "ashigaru," which means foot soldier, practiced the specialty of "The Way of the Bow and the Horse."
There are excerpts from the screenplay, but they are far from complete and are used basically as side bars to David James's photographs which are stunning. Something that could have truly added to the book is a listing of credits.
On the positive side, the book does a good job of explaining Algren's flashbacks to the Sand Creek massacre, the production of costumes, set, weapons and armor. And of particular note is the training of horses for the film.
Beautiful pictures and insights into the movie, but almost as much, and in some instances, more can be found at its website - www.lastsamurai.com. Don't use this as a reference book. It was designed as a coffee table companion to a movie which Zwick, the director, himself describes as "literary fancy."
Almost forgot! Go see the movie.
Nick Jamilla, author of Shimmering Sword: Samurai, Western, and Star Wars Sword Fighting.
