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From the early 17th century until the 1860s, Japan was ruled by samurai led by the Shoguns of the powerful Tokugawa dynasty. The long period of peace following almost incessant civil war had negative effects on the proficiency of these feudal warriors. When industrialized Western powers whose armies and navies were equipped with the most modern weapons began to take interest in Japan in the 1850s, a tumultuous period of reforms and radical changes ensued - Bakumatsu. From this time emerged a country which had thoroughly albeit painfully rid itself of former taboos: modern rifles and artillery produced new tactics, while modern uniforms replaced the samurai's former splendour in arms. Now even non-samurai could become fighting men. By the 1870s, the Emperor Meiji ruled over a new Japan which no longer had any use for its ancient warrior élite.The Zeughaus Verlag's third volume of the history of the samurai provides a detailed overview of the opposing parties as well as their respective military reforms. The reader is introduced to the various modern and traditional-minded combatants, from lowly but efficient regular infantry to the gallant desperadoes filling the ranks of the Shinsengumi. Rag-tag militias replaced proud and resplendently attired samurai fighting for a lost cause. Tactics, arms, clothing and equipment are presented in detail. The author describes the campaigns and battles which changed the country's face between 1866 and 1869, and introduces the protagonists of the struggle which culminated in modern Japan's entrance onto the world stage.

This fourth volume concludes the series on the 'Uniforms of the Armies at Waterloo'.After the previous volumes presented the Allied side, this fourth part deals with its opponents, the French Armée du Nord under the command of Napoleon I. This Northern Army, despite its short existence after Napoleon's return to France's imperial throne, consisted of numerous, experienced soldiers from his earlier campaigns, with the caveat that its uniforms did not always comply with regulations due to the army's rapid mobilization.As in the three previous volumes, the two editors Markus Gärtner and Markus Stein take the opportunity to evaluate Charles Lyall's uniform plates by using the current knowledge of how the French troops actually appeared in 1815. Due to the special status attributed to the French Imperial Guard, especially in England, numerous Lyall plates deal with Guard units. However, some of the units depicted had already been disbanded before 1815 but the editors decided to publish them in this volume as well, along with a short commentary.As in the other volumes, to complete the visual images in the plates, this one provides the order of battle as well as supplementary descriptions of the organization and uniforms of the Northern Army's units deployed in the Netherlands. Finally, the description of the Battle of Waterloo, begun in the first volume and continued in the following volumes, is taken up again and continued until the end with the French retreat from the battlefield. This description is accompanied by two more maps from William Siborne'sAtlas to History of the Waterloo Campaign.