Ninja: 1,000 Years of the Shadow Warrior
Countless numbers of teens (or even preteens) know ninja warriors only as the masked throwers of star-shaped, razor-edged projectiles, as seen in video games, comic books, graphic novels, or films. Man, a British historian and travel writer who has written extensively on Asia, strives to separate that mythological image from the reality of this mysterious warrior caste. Man traces the origin of the ninja to the fifteenth century, when Japan was wracked by a series of civil wars. To survive, they learned the arts of espionage, disguise, and infiltration of enemy strongholds to gather information and attack opponents. Initially, they formed tight bonds of loyalty to each other; eventually, they became the tools of local rulers, which placed them in opposition to each other. Man effectively demolishes much of the nonsensical romanticism that surrounds views of the ninja in the West. Unfortunately, he comes close to fostering his own counter mythology by suggesting they were valiant, honorable victims of historical change. Still, this is a useful, popular history suitable for general readers. --Jay Freeman