The true story behind James Clavell's best-selling Shogun, Samurai William is the incredible tale of a man who tried to bridge two very different cultures during one of the earliest and most fascinating encounters between East and West. In 1611, the merchants of London's East India Company received a startling letter from Japan, written by a marooned English mariner named William Adams. Even though foreigners had been denied access to this unknown land for centuries, Adams had been living there for years. He had taken a Japanese name, risen to the highest levels in the ruling shogun's court, and was now offering his services as adviser and interpreter. Seven adventurers were sent to Japan with orders to find and befriend Adams in the belief that he held the key to exploiting the riches to be discovered there. But, overwhelmed by the exotic attractions of this new and forbidden country, and failing to grasp the intricacies of a culture so different from their own, the Englishmen quickly found themselves at odds with the ruling shogun. For more than a decade, the English, helped by Adams, attempted trade with the shogun. Faced with the difficulties of communicating, and hounded by scheming Jesuit monks and fearsome Dutch assassins, they eventually found themselves in a desperate battle for their lives. - Jacket flap.