{"product_id":"9781472137418","title":"Christ's Samurai : The True Story of the Shimabara Rebellion by Jonathan Clements","description":"The sect was said to harbour dark  designs to overthrow the government. Its teachers used a dead language  that was impenetrable to all but the innermost circle of believers. Its  priests preached love and kindness, but helped local warlords acquire  firearms. They encouraged believers to cast aside their earthly  allegiances and swear loyalty to a foreign god-emperor, before seeking  paradise in terrible martyrdoms. The cult was in open revolt,  led, it was said, by a boy sorcerer. Farmers claiming to have the  blessing of an alien god had bested trained samurai in combat and  proclaimed that fires in the sky would soon bring about the end of the  world. The Shogun called old soldiers out of retirement for one last  battle before peace could be declared in Japan. For there to be an end  to war, he said, the Christians would have to die.  This is a true story.\u003cbr\u003eBinding: Paperback \/ softback","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56299988550005,"sku":"9781472137418","price":16.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781472137418.jpg?v=1762786724","url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/products\/9781472137418","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}