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I want to say that I was psyched to get the chance to read this book, especially after learning that it was rare to find books in English on the subject of the Shinsengumi. Since my course in Modern Japanese history was a brief overview, I received little more than the general samurai lesson. This book gives a lot of information on the beginnings of the corps, and how the Tokugawa policy of isolation affected the country to the point of civil war after Western powers opened the country, and the Shinsengumi could no longer enforce their power with swords that could not win against the Western artillery which was ushering in a new age of Japanese warfare.

The only thing that really bothered me in this book was Hillsborough's overuse of the phrase "propensity to kill." Enough already! It didn't even make sense in all the contexts that he used it for. Perhaps he could have used lessons in writing more eloquently like the samurai he consistently quoted throughout the book.

Also I wish that more than just the leaders of the corps were given such biographical detail. Hajime Saito seemed to play a vital role, but he was hardly mentioned all that much. Serizawa received the better part of a chapter devoted to his exploits of rage and rape, what the hell?!

I would recommend this to all the history buffs out there. It's only 174 pages of information other than appendixes, and for that length I'm wondering why the price tag is marked at $29.95 because it should have more length in my honest opinion. I special ordered it through the library, but eventually I hope to have a copy of my own.

You are very welcome!

I had a 25% off coupon for Borders over the weekend and now the book is mine! I just had to have it for my collection.