The Book of Five Rings

A fascinating book on strategy and discipline which was taken up by businessmen as a instruction manual for outwitting the competition. According to Time magazine: 'On Wall Street, when Musashi talks, people listen'

The author's courageous study of philosophical and spiritual ideas is as relevant today as it was in its own time

Over 67,000 copies of this deluxe silk-bound edition sold

Marvel Studio's new release Shang-Chi and the Legend of Ten Rings (2021) will create new interest in Eastern martial arts and swordsmanship.

Miyamoto Musashi was born around 1584 into a samurai family in Harima province. His mother died soon after his birth, so he was raised by his step-mother and then his uncle, a monk from the Shoreian temple. While staying with his uncle, he was taught Zen Buddhisma and basic reading and writing. He had his first duel at the age of thirteen and went on to have 59 more, claiming never to have lost a single one. He completed his influential book on swordsmanship in May 1645, the year he died.

Victor Harris (1942-2017) was an experienced kendoka, an expert on the Japanese sword (President of the Token Society of Great Britain), and head of the Japanese Department of the British Museum. He translated The Book of Five Rings into English for the first time.