Ninja: The Shadow Warrior

I picked this book up as a gift for a relative and decided to give it a read before it disappeared into the all consuming black hole that is commonly known as a "teenager's room". I'm glad I did, this is a interesting light read on the history of the ninja. It covers from before the time of the first ninjas to the last recorded ninja mission in the 1800's. It's written in easy to understand language and does not get bogged down in the details of each section. Each section is pretty through on hitting the important parts of what it is covering and sometimes directing the reader to where they can get more information. If you are getting this for a child / teenager who is interested or may become interested in the subject there is a short bibliography in the back of the book for more information. On a side note it's not really a long book, half of the pages have a picture of some sort on them, usually showing what the opposite page is describing. I would recommend this to anyone who is interested in the history of ninjas (child or adult) and to those looking for a place to start on learning about it. M.a.c

This book is bargain priced and has a very cool cover and interior design. There a lots of illustrations, and plenty of historical information. This is not one of those sappy "how to be a ninja" books. This one gives a lot of accurate information about the function of ninjas in the larger Japanese society. And it is cool!

This was a fun, interesting and easy book to read. Almost every second page is a full-page picture and the line spacing is very generous so an adult reader could get through it in a single night (if they were reasonably committed). I read it over a weekend and took a strong interest in the more theoretical elements that were covered - including Ninja origins and the contemporary perception of Ninja. It had enough substance to hold my attention whilst also playing up to the more romantic idea's during the middle chapters (such as ninja weapons, strategy and missions). A comprehensive but light read that is certainly recommended to anyone with an endearing interest in the ninja. Four stars.

I got this book as a gift and I must say, most of the information seem well researched. There are few little things that bothered me, like ninjas wearing there swords on there backs and the uniforms but all in all it's a good book with a lot of good information on Ninja.