The Secret Traditions of the Shinobi: Hattori Hanzo's Shinobi Hiden and Other Ninja Scrolls Paperback – Illustrated, November 27, 2012

This is the first of Antony and Yoshie's books that I have read and it is a marvelous work. There is a plethora of historically accurate information combined with philosophies that can be applied to everyday life in the same vein as Sun Tzu's Art of War. What I found particularly enjoyable is the final section of the book which contains a number of poems and translations of their meanings/applications. These poems (whether intentionally or not) do a fantastic job of summarizing the previous content of the book and also contribute a bit of the mysticism that has always surrounded Ninjutsu. This is a great read for practitioners, historians or even just those with a passing interest in ninjas. I look forward to reading Antony and Yoshie's next book: Iga and Koka Ninja Skills: The Secret Shinobi Scrolls of Chikamatsu Shigenori.

I really enjoyed this book! Please understand that this book is not "How To Become A Ninja" in 10 easy lessons. It is a guide to what these spy/scouts/fighters did to make themselves Legendary. Like anything else, you have to have hands on training from someone that knows what they are doing. The really important stuff, as said through out this book, lets you know that some of every lesson will be transferred orally. This was an intelligent safe guard in case these scrolls or writings fell into the wrong hands. With that aside, if you are looking for an inside view of the Shinobi Warrior (Ninja), this book & Cummins other translations are definitely the way to go, IMO!

Not much to say...accurate translations of historical ninja manuals. Blows away 80's Bujinkan fantasy snow job about ninjutsu being a specific "martial art", and makes it available to the average man as the REAL set of life skills that it is.Here you get the ACTUAL, authentic historical manuals, not "Look at my certificates of lineage." pseudo-authenticity as with so many "grandmasters". I don't know about you, but I prefer to get my info from the horse's mouth, from the actual book written by ninja. If Musashi didn't think you could learn Budo from a book then he would not have written his. "All things with no teacher.Higly recommend this book, and the Shoninki and Ninpiden, also translated by Anthony Cummins, over any other "authentic" ninja books.This is all the stuff you WON'T learn in any Genbu/Bujin/whatever "kan".

very interesting translation. one item readers need to be aware of is the fact that much of the info concerning equipment, techniques, etc is in outline form. this seemed to have been a memory device for the intended reader. much is left to be, "transmitted orally." all in all, a good read.

For the amount of commentary Anthony gives it's amazing they put his name on the book at all! It's almost an entire translation with small bits of background thrown in by Anthony. I would definitely recommend this book.

Thank you so much everything is 10/10

Love this product because I truly believes it gives a decent amount of information about the shinobi, their secrets and traditions.

Good Historical overview. Recommended if you like the works of Stephen K Hayes etc. The attention paid to the intelligence collection skills and techniques was interesting to me. Espionage has not changed much in the field of HUMINT, but its value has been decreased, to our deficit.Recommended,