![]() Given that the word “pirate” in English calls to mind Blackbeard (or Jack Sparrow), Shapinsky is wise in choosing an alternative. ![]() Shapinsky shines needed light on these figures, whom he calls “sea lords” rather than pirates. ![]() Within the Japanese isles, pirates managed littoral estates, facilitated commerce, and/or became the maritime equivalent of sengoku daimyō (land-based regional warlords). Pirates were not marginal figures: their depredations contributed to the collapse of Korea’s Goryeo dynasty (918-1392), forced the Ming to repeatedly send diplomatic envoys to Japan seeking pirate suppression, and led early European missionaries to travel in fear. In this meticulously researched book, Peter D. Shapinsky calls new attention to pirates, an important but surprisingly understudied topic of medieval Japanese history. Reviewed by Ethan Segal (Michigan State University) Ann Arbor: Center for Japanese Studies Publications, University of Michigan, 2014. ![]() Lords of the Sea: Pirates, Violence, and Commerce in Late Medieval Japan. ![]()
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