Samurai is a very good work on several levels. It contains very entertaining illustrations, good detail on obscure topics and based on excellent research. The authors brought to light many of the obscure ideas and overall feeling of the martial arts. This book is not full of legend but appears to stand on verifiable, historical facts. On the downside, it was too wordy. I spent extra time rereading the text to get the idea when a simple and direct way to get the point across would work. Critical ideas were not upfront and some chapters went on and on and in the end, said very little. In popular and in martial art writing, it is usually better to stay away from words like phantasmagoria, oscillate, and integrative. Recommended reading for the mature martial artist and for those cross-training into other branches of self-defense.