Ninja

The Ninjas today are the stuff of myth and legend in comics, film and electronic games. But once they were real, medieval spies, saboteurs, and assassins. In their secrecy, undercover skills, and determination to survive, they were the opposite of the overt, self-destructive samurai. Could they fly? Make themselves invisible? Of course not. Their skills gave them a magical aura. Martial artists and storytellers have turned them into fantasy creatures, from James Bond to Mutant Turtles. John Man explores the origins of ninjas over 1,000 years ago, through their heyday in civil wars ending in Japan's unification in 1600, and their re-emergence in World War Two as a little-known counterpart to Japanese militarism. Ninja ways live on today in the real 'last of the ninjas', Hiroo Onoda, who held out in the Philippine jungle for 30 years. This epic story reveals the reality behind one of the world's most enduring legends.