TADAKATSU

"Ieyasu has two things too good for him," a Takeda samurai wrote in 1572: "a Chinese-style helmet, and Honda Heihachirō."

Honda Tadakatsu was the most famous warrior of Tokugawa Ieyasu's army, one of his "Four Guardian Kings." He carried the spear Tonbogiri, said to be so sharp that a dragonfly landing on it was cut in two. And tradition says that in fifty-seven battles — or a hundred, depending on who is counting — he was never once seriously wounded.

The real story is more human, and more remarkable. Tadakatsu was an orphan who went to war at thirteen beside a young lord who was still another clan's vassal. He chose his lord over his own faith when Mikawa rose in revolt. He rode alone at the Asakura army at Anegawa, covered the retreat at Hitokotozaka, survived the rout at Mikatagahara, and stood at the fences of Nagashino. When Nobunaga was killed and Ieyasu wanted to die, Tadakatsu told him to go home and fight. He let his horse drink in front of Hideyoshi's army, lost his horse at Sekigahara, and then pleaded for the lives of his lord's enemies for his daughter's sake.

Told as a narrative history from beginning to end, 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 orphan of Mikawa, and the head he refused to take
The revolt of 1563, when loyalty meant choosing between lord and faith
The spear Tonbogiri, the antlered helmet, and the charge at Anegawa
Hitokotozaka, Mikatagahara, and the verse written by the enemy
Nagashino, and the four very different "Guardian Kings"
The night Ieyasu wanted to die, and the flight through Iga
The river at Ryūsenji, and Hideyoshi's order not to shoot
Sekigahara, the lost horse, and the plea to spare the Sanada
Kuwana, the failing eyes, and the farewell poem
A guide to visiting the places in this story today, from Okazaki and Sekigahara to Kuwana and Ōtaki
If you want an invincible warrior who could not be hurt, this is not your book. If you want the real story of the man who stood between his lord and danger for nearly fifty years, turn the page and meet the real Tadakatsu.