The story of Japan's premier naval commander and his greatest victory Togo Heihachiro was a gensui (admiral) of the fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy in the early years of the 20th century. He is regarded as one of the most outstanding naval figures Japan has produced, earning him the title 'the Nelson of the East' from the Western press. This special Leonaur edition covers the career of Togo from his birth in 1848 to his first experience of naval conflict at the bombardment of Kagoshima, through his time as a naval student in Britain and to his early commands of small warships. Togo observed the Sino-French War of 1884-5 from the French side of the conflict and took an active part in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-5, after which was promoted to the rank of rear admiral. In 1903 Togo was appointed Commander in Chief of the Combined Imperial Navy Fleet. It would during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-5 that his command capabilities were fully realised, resulting in decisive Japanese victories at the battles of the Yellow Sea, at Port Arthur and at the pivotal Battle of Tsushima--which demonstrated that he was a naval strategist and commander of the fist rank. These famous events are, of course, described in some detail within these pages. The second book here was written by a nephew of Admiral Togo and describes the naval war against the Russians from the perspective of the Japanese, making it an ideal companion piece to the Togo biography. Contains illustrations and photographs not present in original editions. Leonaur editions are newly typeset and are not facsimiles; each title is available in softcover and hardback with dustjacket; our hardbacks are cloth bound and feature gold foil lettering on their spines and fabric head and tail bands.

Togo Heihachiro (1848-1934) was born into a feudal society that had lived in seclusion for 250 years. As a teenage samurai, he witnessed the destruction wrought upon his native land by British warships. As the legendary "Silent Admiral", he was at the forefront of innovations in warfare, pioneering the Japanese use of modern gunnery and wireless communication. He is best known as "the Nelson of the East" for his resounding victory over the Tsar's navy in the Russo-Japanese War, but he also lived a remarkable life: studying at a British maritime college, witnessing the Sino-French War, the Hawaiian Revolution, and the Boxer Uprising. After his retirement, he was appointed to oversee the education of the Emperor, Hirohito. This new biography spans Japan's sudden, violent leap out of its self-imposed isolation and into the 20th century. Delving beyond Togo's finest hour at the Battle of Tsushima, it portrays the life of a diffident Japanese sailor in Victorian Britain, his reluctant celebrity in America (where he was laid low by Boston cooking and welcomed by his biggest fan, Theodore Roosevelt), forgotten wars over the short-lived Republics of Ezo and Formosa, and the accumulation of peacetime experience that forged a wartime hero.

Merriam Press Naval History NH2. First Edition (2014). This is a biography of Japanese Navy Admiral Osami Nagano, who ordered the attack on the American fleet at Pearl Harbor. This work covers his entire career, diplomatic, political and military, concentrating on the years leading up to the war between Japan and the United States. He attained great achievements in his military and political careers, but his involvement in Japan's entrance into World War II on 8 December 1941 led to his ultimate downfall. He died in 1947, in Sugamo Prison in Tokyo during the International Military Tribunal for the Far East under U.S. occupation, following Japan's defeat. 205 B&W photos, 7 maps, 7 tables, 2 charts. This edition has all B&W photos and illustrations; a more expensive color edition is also available. Otherwise the content is identical for both.