William de Lange was born in 1964 in Naarden, the Netherlands to Dutch and English parents. In the late 1980s, he traveled to Japan, where he supported himself by making traditional Japanese scrolls, working as a carpenter, and writing articles for the Japan Times Weekly. Having studied at Leiden and Waseda universities during the nineties, he lived in Japan for the next decade, studying the art of Japanese fencing under Akita Moriji sensei, eighth dan master of the Shinkage-Ryu. Since then, he has written a large number of books on Japanese history, culture, and art. More recently, he has appeared in the Netflix documentary Age of Samurai. His many books include Samurai Battles, Samurai Sieges, An Encyclopedia of Japanese Castles, and The Siege of Osaka Castle. He is perhaps best known for his epic history of the Yagyu clan, and his acclaimed biography of Miyamoto Musashi.
To study the warriors of old Japan, then, is, in a sense, to study the secret of the Japanese spirit, which to the Westerner must often appear hopelessly baffling. What a pity that in these latter days of commercialism those noble warriors of yore are almost forgotten in the tumult of traffic and the greed for money! -- New York TimesThe accounts of the doings of the "Warriors of old Japan" will find an echo in the heart of every reader. The Oxford and Cambridge Review
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