Shogun by James Clavell is an epic tale of Samurai & Japanese culture. Elizabethan English Pilot- Major Blackthorne & the remains of his crew are ship-wrecked on the shores of Japan. They are captured & risk execution. However various lords realise that Blackthorne has knowledge of another world that can help in their rise to power; the same knowledge is deadly for the Spanish & Portuguese, who would prefer to have him dead. Blackthorne finally comes under the protection of the warlord Toranaga & little by little learns more of the Japanese, their rites, their way of life & Bushido, finally earning the right to be granted the title of Samurai.