NOBUNAGA

Oda Nobunaga is remembered as Japan's demon king — the warlord who burned temples, massacred thousands, and was finally betrayed by his own general in a burning temple in Kyoto. Few people know that "Demon King" may have been a title he chose for himself.

This book tells his real story, from beginning to end. As a teenager, he was called the Great Fool of Owari. At his father's funeral, he threw incense at the altar. Then he won over his cunning father-in-law in a single meeting, killed his own brother after a second plot, and, at twenty-six, destroyed an army ten times the size of his own in a sudden summer storm.

He opened free markets and tore down toll gates. He marched into Kyoto and made a shogun — then drove him out. He was betrayed by his own brother-in-law and escaped through the mountains. He burned the ancient temples of Mount Hiei. He answered a naval defeat by building ships of iron. He kept faith with one ally for twenty years, and threw out a lifelong servant with a single letter. And at the height of his power, with most of central Japan in his hands, one of his most trusted generals turned on him in the night.

Told as a narrative history, with a cast of characters, a map, and a travel guide to the places you can still visit today, this book says plainly what the records show, what historians still debate, and which famous stories are only legends.

Inside, you'll find:

- The "fool" who shocked his family, and the father-in-law who saw through him
- The gamble in the rain at Okehazama, and why the famous secret march may never have happened
- The free markets and iron ships that show a side of Nobunaga his battles hide
- The betrayal at Kanegasaki, and the gilded skulls at a New Year's feast
- The burning of Mount Hiei and the ten-year war against a fortress-temple
- The night at Honnō-ji, and the four-hundred-year mystery of why Akechi Mitsuhide did it
- How a man who called himself a demon became one of the most famous figures in Japanese history
- A guide to visiting the places in this story today, from the battlefield of Okehazama to the ruins of Azuchi Castle

If you want a cartoon demon, this is not your book. If you want the real story of the man who began the unification of Japan — and died before he could finish it — turn the page and meet the real Nobunaga.