Books published by publisher Tuttle

Erec and Enide; Cliges; Lancelot; Yvain; PercevalAn idyllically happy marriage in which a husband is so involved that he neglects his duties as a knight; love endangered by a husband who is more interested in athletic chivalry than his wife; timorous young love; and adulterous passion — together these stories offer the most complete expression of French chivalry and of courtly love.Chretien de Troyes did not invent the Arthurian legend: he gave it sophisticated literary form, establishing it as major branch of European literature. Without chretien we might today scarcely have heard of King Arthur and his brave company.The most comprehensive paperback edition available, with introduction , notes and glossary

Tuttle Hardcover (approx. size: 6.2 x 8 1/2") with 191 pages. Filled with b/w illustrations, symbols and photos. - The Samurai Sword has long been considered the symbol of the spirit of old Japan. Surprisingly, there are a greater number of these swords in America today than there are in Japan. During the U.S. occupation of Japan after the end of the Pacific War, countless servicemen collected these swords, perhaps without fully realizing their value. The number of such swords if estimated to be between 250,000 and 350,000. This present volume is the first book of its kind in English. It is a complete handbook of the samurai sword. The informative text deals with the origins and development of the sword, its historical background, the various types of swords, their parts, styles, and differences in construction, the art of the swordsmith, the famous schools, the problem of identification and evaluation, and the care and maintenance of the sword. The any lists offer convenient means of collating vital information, while the numerous illustrations admirably augment the text.

How Chiseok Festival came about in Korea A Korean classic legend of a herdboy and a weaving girl who loved so much that they neglected their duties to weave and tend to their herds. As punishment, the boy and girl were placed in the sky and separated forever by the the Milky Way. Once a year, on the 7th night of the 7th moon, the lovers were allowed to meet when a bridge of magpies spanned the river of stars, the milky way. This story tells of Chiseok festival in Korea and similar to Tanabata in Japan and Qixi Festival in China. July 7th lunar calendar is when Chilseok is celebrated in Korea. The legend says the lovers to stepping on their head is the reason why the magpies have bold spots late summer. If it rains on July 7th, it is said that they are the tears of the lovers.

Yukio Mishima's Runaway Horses is the second novel in his masterful tetralogy, The Sea of Fertility. Again we encounter Shigekuni Honda, who narrates this epic tale of what he believes are the successive reincarnations of his childhood friend Kiyoaki Matsugae. In 1932, Shigeuki Honda has become a judge in Osaka. Convinced that a young rightist revolutionary, Isao, is the reincarnation of his friend Kiyoaki, Honda commits himself to saving the youth from an untimely death. Isao, driven to patriotic fanaticism by a father who instilled in him the ethos of the ancient samurai, organizes a violent plot against the new industrialists who he believes are usurping the Emperor's rightful power and threatening the very integrity of the nation. Runaway Horses is the chronicle of a conspiracy - a novel about the roots and nature of Japanese fanaticism in the years that led to war.

Quirky, clever, and marvelously inventive, this book takes the reader into a world of imagination and adventure.Peter Newell utilizes a unique cartoon art form that the reader perceives as an optical illusion. Each illustration is supported by a caption that turns each page into loads of fun. Each page will delight the reader with a new and uniquely illustrated story that tells its tale right-side up and upside down. It provides as much entertainment for adults as it does for the children for whom it was created.Topsys & Turvys Book 2 also available from Tuttle Publishing.