A Book of Five Rings - Tapa dura

Japan's business executives have long applied Musashi's teachings to their business methods. This book - the original life-guide by Japan's greatest warrior - means you can do so too. Written in 1645 by the most famous and unconquerable of all samurai, A Book of Five Rings is the classic guide to kendo swordsmanship and a distillation of the philosophies of Zen, Shinto and Confucius. The West is now discovering what the Japanese have always known: that the ancient wisdom of the Samurai Way provides a strategy for decision and action in all areas of life - the home, the battleground and the boardroom.

Victor Harris, the translator of A Book of Five Rings, was Keeper Emeritus of Japanese Antiquities at the British Museum. As well as a translator he was also an editor and author, having co-written Japanese Decorative Arts, Swords of the Samurai, and Kamakura, The Renaissance of Japanese Sculpture, among others. Victor Harris was a President of the European Kendo Federation and Vice-President of the International Kendo Federation. In 2008 he was the recipient of the Japan Foreign Minister's Commendation.