Scottish samurai : Thomas Blake Glover 1839-1911 / Alexander McKay.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

McKay, Alexander, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Japan--History--Meiji period, 1868-1912.

Japan.

Glover, Thomas Blake, 1838-1911.

Glover, Thomas Blake.

Merchants--Scotland--Biography.

Merchants--Japan--Biography.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (x, 226 p., [24] p. of plates ) ill., ports.

Edition:

2nd (enlarged) ed.

Place of Publication:

Edinburgh : Canongate, 2012.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Glover arrived in Nagasaki in 1859. Within a few years he had played an important role in the overthrow of the Tokugawa Shogunate. The author of this text became fascinated with the story of Glover when he visited Glover House in Hagasaki.

Thomas Glover arrived in Nagasaki in 1859, just as Japan was opening to the West. Within a few years he had played a crucial part in the overthrow of the Tokugawa Shogunate, providing the rebels with war-winning, Scottish-designed warships, and modern arms. Bankruptcy by the age of thirty was barely a setback and he went on to become a pivotal figure in the rapidly expanding Mitsubishi empire, founding shipyards and breweries.As energetic in his love-life as in business and politics, Glover had a string of Japanese mistresses, one of whom inspired Puccini's Madam Butterfly. This 'Scottish Samurai' was to become an adviser to the Japanese government; he also arranged for many Japanese to visit Britain and see the wonders of the industrial revolution, a lesson they enthusiastically absorbed. Today, Glover is regarded as one of the founding fathers of the Japanese economic miracle.

Contents:

Intro

Title page

Copyright page

Dedication page

Contents

Preface

Foreword

Acknowledgements

1 The Coastguard's Family

2 From Shanghai to Nagasaki

3 MacKenzie's Partner

4 The Phantom and the Fanatics

5 Contract with Renegades

6 Ipponmatsu

7 Escape of the 'Choshu Five'

8 In the Land of the 'Barbarians'

9 Showdown at Shimonoseki

10 Arming the Rebels

11 Samurai in Aberdeen

12 The Greatest Rebel

13 Entrepreneur

14 War with Montblanc

15 The Shogun's Surrender

16 Birth of a Naval Power

17 Takashima Troubles

18 Dutch Masters

19 Meiji Muscle

20 Adviser to Mitsubishi

21 Jekyll, Hyde, Brunton . . . and Yoshida

22 Political Host

23 Red-Faced Devil

24 From Keels to Kirin

25 Honoured by Empoeror Meiji

26 The Final Years

Epilogue

Bibliography

Index

List of Plates.

Notes:

Formerly CIP.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9780857867308

085786730X

OCLC:

1255231418