The African Samurai

Longlisted for the 2024 Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize

'Gripping. Fans of Shogun will love it' — Conn Iggulden

'Fierce, vivid and richly detailed' — Daily Mail

The incredible story, based on real events, of the slave who became a Japanese samurai.

In 1579, a Portuguese trade ship sails into port at Kinchotsu, Japan, loaded with European wares and weapons. Also aboard is an East African slave. Taken from his village as a boy, sold to mercenaries and forced to fight in Indian wars that meant nothing to him, he is a young but experienced soldier.

Serving as the protector for a high-ranking Italian priest, the young man joins an expedition pushing inland towards the capital city of Kyoto.

There they meet Oda Nobunaga, the most powerful warlord in Japan, who is preparing a campaign to unify the country after more than a hundred years of civil war. Under the tutelage of Nobunaga, the young African soldier becomes the great warrior Yasuke, Japan’s first foreign samurai, and the only one ever of African descent. His preoccupation is not a question of power, as it is for Nobunaga, but one of freedom.

A timeless, epic story, a magnificent reconstruction and moving study of a lost historical figure, and a truly enthralling narrative, thrilling in its dramatization of the making of modern Japan, from which rises the most unlikely of heroes.

Praise for The African Samurai:

'Breathtakingly visual with dialogue that’s filled with insights and wisdom … Written with compassion and an authenticity brought on by painstaking research, Shreve is the rarest of writers: one who can evoke varied emotions in the reader with few words and attention to detail. I experienced sixteenth-century Japan like never before despite being a huge fan of the novels of Eric Van Lustbader and the seminal Shogun by James Clavell. Yet, it is Yasuke’s journey that pulls me fully and completely into that world, with a sensitivity that’s unparalleled and which will most certainly guarantee The African Samurai’s stellar position in the literary space.'

'Violent, raw, visceral, incisive and deftly plotted, Shreve has given us a hero we did not know we needed. He has given voice to someone who has been silenced throughout history, and in the process he has offered us (the reader) hope. In Yasuke, we have found a hero as broken as he is brave and as strong as he is flawed.'

'A necessary tale that’s been masterfully told, and an essential read for lovers of great literature' — Femi Kayode, author of Gaslight

'Shreve tells an extraordinary story with dramatic intensity, sensitivity, and consummate imagination. Like all the best historical novels, it feels relevant and even essential to our present moment. Of the many admirable things about this novel, perhaps the greatest is Shreve’s feat of breathing life into Yasuke, its central character, and rescuing this remarkable man from obscurity' — David Bezmozgis, award-winning author of Immigrant City and The Betrayers

'A complex and deeply moving story . . . that powerfully resonates with our current times. The deftly drawn characters of European, Asian and African origin inhabit a sometimes frightening but ultimately hopeful story due to Shreve’s immense skills at illuminating the power of the human spirit' — Jeffrey Colvin, award-winning author of Africville