Shogun by James Clavell

Clavell writes a compelling history of Japan in the 1500's. An island unto itself, thousands of years of samurai and Emperors, Japan even today is affected by the beliefs and ideas of it's people and it's past. The reader follows the passage of an English ship, captained by a brave man, shipwrecked on Japan and assimilated into the people. A very interesting, a real page-turner.