State Of War Summary

State of War: The Violent Order of Fourteenth-Century Japan is an interesting historical book that does a great job of giving an in depth look at war techniques used in this time period. It goes over many different aspects that affected warfare at this time, besides just military tactics, such as social structure, government set up, and innovations and technology that were emerging. The author attempts to break down many myths there are about samurai warfare at this time which is important for historians, as well as the rest of the population in understanding this time period in Japan. Thomas Donald Conlan, the author of State of War: The Violent Order of Fourteenth-Century Japan, argues that “warfare is instrumental to change rather than
being merely expressive of it” and that “legal rights, social privileges, and for that matter, political authority, can only be maintained through military force”. Conlan proves his point using specific examples of conflict between different governments in 14th century Japan. Specifically, he talks about samurai warfare and how it ties into all aspects of what the world views as “war”. Throughout the book, he develops his points by breaking down the different pieces of of fourteenth century warfare in Japan. Conlan uses various of methods in order to prove his thesis and main ideas.
The book is organized into eight chapters, which all can theoretically stand alone. This shows that there are so many different aspects of war that can be discussed almost entirely separately from each other. This helps prove his thesis that warfare is important when it comes to societal change and that so many aspects of society were maintained through military force. Each chapter covers a specific aspect. For example, chapter four is called “Status Creation, Social Mobility, and War” while chapter seven is titled “Law and the Legitimation of Judicial Violence”. This shows the variation in topics the author discusses in order to prove his point. Although the chapters can stand alone, they relate to each other in many ways. Often, Conlan mentions the same aspects of war in multiple chapters which provides the reader with a holistic view of 14th century Japan. By doing this, Conlan effectively proves his points about how intertwined society was with the
military. In chapter one, titled “Portrait of a Warrior”, Conlan uses a particularly good method of helping the reader understand this time period.
He introduces the chapter, and the book for that matter, by quite literally painting a “portrait” of a warrior named Nomoto Tomoyuki, who served Ashikaga Takauji in the 12th century. By providing a real example of a warrior, Conlan makes the whole book more relatable for the reader while providing valuable insight into the lives of many warriors. It was a good choice for him to start out the book with this narrative because it helps develop a character of a warrior right off the bat which was very helpful while reading. It was a creative way to portray a variety of different aspects of warrior’s lives at this point. An interesting point Conlan brought up in this chapter was that warriors felt a strong desire to be recognized for their duty. Examples like this really put a human face and feelings to warriors that are usually seen as very one
dimensional. Chapter one also talks about some of the sources that Conlan uses throughout the book. He uses the primary documents that were found in the home of a descendant of Nomoto Tomoyuki that contain many documents dating as far back as the 12th century. The documents used were gathered and put together at some point in the 17th or 18th century and contain extensive records about many different specific incidences of war. During this time period, warriors often kept comprehensive documents of their military experience in hopes of gaining recognition of their duties. This, in turn, helps historians like Conlan piece together an accurate representation of history at this time. The documents that Conlan used were very thorough and reliable which, in turn, strengthens the arguments that he uses throughout the book. This book did a great job at changing the ideas that historians had about this era in Japan. The novel attempts, and in my opinion succeeds, at showing the misconceptions of the samurai era of warfare. This book is incredibly important in terms of looking at the history in a new lens and Conlan does a great job at providing specific examples of other historian’s work and how their work has influenced the way history is perceived. Often, he points out flaws in the arguments of many historians and he even provides insight into why they may have come to the conclusions that they did. An example of when Conlan did this was in chapter five. He talks about how historians such as James Murdoch and Peter Arnesen describe fourteenth century warriors as disloyal, rebellious men when, according to Conlan, the truth is a bit more complex. Conlan points out misconceptions often throughout this book which makes this piece incredibly valuable in terms of historiography and what this book means for the perceptions of this point of the history of Japan. By bringing the misconceptions many historians believe to the table, Conlan has changed the way historians, as well as others, may view this time period of Japan.
One weakness that this book has is its repetitive nature. While it is understandable that he needs to be thorough in talking about this era, there are some times where Conlan could have excluded certain sentences, as he had already made his point. Often, he reiterates points in multiple chapters. Because of this, the book is dry at some points which can be frustrating. That being said, there is a certain audience that might appreciate the thoroughness of his writing. For readers that are very interested in the book and want to know extensive knowledge on the topic, this may be a good thing, but, for the average reader it is easy to get bogged down by repetitive details and facts.
Altogether, State of War: The Violent Order of Fourteenth-Century Japan is a fascinating book that brings to light many new ideas about the military and war of Japan in the fourteenth century. Conlan does a great job at bringing new ideas to the historiographical table and his work is overall very successful at presenting these ideas.