The culmination of 25 years of research, Alex Bennett’s groundbreaking English translation of Miyamoto Musashi’s The Book of Five Rings reveals the true meaning of the original work

This piece of writing by famed samurai Musashi (1584-1645) is the single-most influential work on samurai swordsmanship, offering insights into samurai history, the Zen Buddhist state of no-mind that enables warriors to triumph and the philosophical meaning of Bushido - ‘the way of the warrior.’

Until now, English translations of The Book of Five Rings have been based on inaccurate copies of Musashi’s long-lost original manuscript. Bennett’s translation is the first to be based on a careful reconstruction of the original text by Japan’s foremost Musashi scholar. By identifying discrepancies among the existing copies, adding missing texts and correcting over 150 incorrect characters, this source is the closest representation of Musashi’s original work possible. Utilising this new source, Bennett captures the subtle nuance of the classic Japanese text, resulting in the most accurate English translation of The Book of Five Rings available.

This book also includes translations of five other known works by Musashi - three of them translated for the first time. The texts are richly annotated by Bennett, who includes an extensive introduction on Musashi’s life and legacy.

The Complete Musashi: The Book of Five Rings and Other Works will be widely read by those interested in Japanese culture, Samurai history and martial arts - setting a new standard against which all other translations will be measured.