Bundori

The sequel to the acclaimed novel Shinju again features detective Sano Ichiro as he trails a serial killer stalking feudal Japan. In 1689, an all-powerful shogun controls the state, surrounded by bitter machinations and political intrigues. When an ancient tradition suddenly and brutally reappears, Sano risks everything to bring the killer to justice. “Bundori is terrific. . . . So good you won’t want to put it down, even to get off a plane. . . . [Laura Joh] Rowland hits her stride as a writer who can deal equally well with the pacing of plot and the nuances of character development. . . . Rowland clearly knows how to build suspense and action, a talent that she demonstrates with great skill.”—New Orleans Times-Picayune “Bundori is one of those mysteries in which the itch to find out whodunit recedes before the pleasure of prowling through a different world.”—Washington Post Book World “Sano may carry a sword and wear a kimono, but you’ll immediately recognize him as an ancestor of Philip Marlowe or Sam Spade.”—Denver Post “A colorful pictorial style that conveys . . . excitement and . . . danger.”—The New York Times Book Review

Tomoe turns to religion to escape her past, but destiny is not through with her yet The young girl crashes through the underbrush, desperate to escape the cackling soldiers at her back. After catching her in a tryst with a local farm boy, they intend to execute her for her sin. She runs for as long as she can, finally collapsing outside a shrine where a traveling nun sits with her flute. When the soldiers arrive, the nun sets her flute aside, drawing a legendary sword. She kills the men easily and sets the young girl free. Though she tried to avoid it, Tomoe Gozen has shed blood once again. After countless battles and endless wandering, this legendary samurai has renounced Bushido and taken the oaths of a wandering nun. But though she disguises herself as a mendicant, trouble will find her still. Tomoe must engage in one last fight—this time for the sake of her soul.

For the sake of an enchanted sword, Tomoe revolts against her father In all of Naipon, there is no samurai more famous than Tomoe Gozen. Her skill with the blade is legendary, her honor unquestioned, and evil men everywhere fear her name. No challenge is too great for Tomoe, but she is not ready for marriage. When her father announces that he has arranged a match for her—one that will mean laying aside her sword—Tomoe responds as she always does when her life is threatened: she draws her twin blades. After fighting her way out of her father’s house, Tomoe meets Azo Hono-o, a female samurai who plans to make a name for herself by killing Tomoe Gozen. Tomoe convinces Azo to join forces with her, and together they set out across Naipon in search of a golden sword, which they will use to carve a place for themselves in a man’s world.

In 1900, China chose to take on imperialism by fighting a war with the world on the parched north China plain. This multidisciplinary volume explores the causes behind what is now known as the Boxer War, examining its particular cruelties and its impact on China, foreign imperialism in China, and on the foreign imagination. This war introduced the world to the "Boxers," the seemingly fanatical, violent xenophobes who, believing themselves invulnerable to foreign bullets, died in their thousands in front of foreign guns. But 1900 also saw the imperialism of the 1890s checked and the Qing rulers of China move to embark on a series of shattering reforms. The Boxers have often been represented as a force from China's past, resisting an enforced modernity. Here, expert contributors argue that this rebellion was instead a wholly modern resistance to globalizing power, representing new trends in modern China and in international relations. The allied invasion of north China in late summer 1900 was the first multinational intervention in the name of "civilization," with the issues and attendant problems that have become all too familiar in the early twenty-first century. Indeed, understanding the Boxer rising and the Boxer war remains a pressing contemporary issue. This volume will appeal to readers interested in modern Chinese, East Asian, and European history as well as the history of imperialism, colonialism, warfare, missionary work, and Christianity. Contributions by: C. A. Bayly, Lewis Bernstein, Robert Bickers, Paul A. Cohen, Henrietta Harrison, James L. Hevia, Ben Middleton, T. G. Otte, Roger R. Thompson, R. G. Tiedemann, and Anand A. Yang.

In volumes1-8: the final number consists of the Commencement annual.

When beautiful, wealthy Yukiko and low-born artist Noriyoshi are found drowned together in a shinju, or ritual double suicide, everyone believes the culprit was forbidden love. Everyone but newly appointed yoriki Sano Ichiro. Despite the official verdict and warnings from his superiors, the shogun's Most Honorable Investigator of Events, Situations, and People suspects the deaths weren't just a tragedy -- they were murder. Risking his family's good name and his own life, Sano will search for a killer across every level of society -- determined to find answers to a mystery no one wants solved. No one but Sano... As subtle and beautiful as the culture it evokes, Shinju vividly re-creates a world of ornate tearooms and guady pleasure-palaces, cloistered mountaintop convents and dealthy prisons. Part love story, part myster, Shinju is a tour that will dazzle and entertain all who enter its world. BONUS: This edition includes an excerpt from Laura Joh Rowland's The Shogun's Daughter.