A thrilling novel of the West’s first journeys to Japan from “a master storyteller” and theacclaimed author of Saigon and Peking (The Kansas City Star).
 
A fleet of ships billowing black smoke steam past Japan’s tributary islands in July 1853, setting off panic among a people who have been sealed off from the rest of the world for over two hundred years. Commodore Matthew Perry has arrived, sent by the US president to open Japan to American ships and trade—by force, if necessary.
 
Navy lieutenant Robert Eden, an idealistic New Englander, immediately recognizes that the colonial intentions of his countrymen will ignite a violent conflict with the feudal, sword-wielding samurai. Inspired to pursue peace, he jumps ship and finds himself plunged into a world of frightful and noble warriors, artfully exotic geishas, and a distraught populace who view the Americans as monsters.
 
Eden tries to bridge the divide between two proud, unyielding cultures in the name of morality, but he may not survive to see the lasting harmony he hopes to create.
 

“The historical panorama is told through people compellingly, with the potent gift of the storyteller, which keeps the reader tensely turning the pages. . . . The characters are three-dimensional, vivid; the aura of old Japan as strong and filmic as a ‘No’ drama, the love scenes as delicate, sensual and erotic as woodblock by Hokusai.” —Eastern Daily Press

“[Grey] has hit upon a winning formula for historical novels that rest on solid research and are painstakingly balanced.” —The Japan Times

Praise for Saigon
“This superb novel could well be the War and Peace of our age.” —San Francisco Chronicle
 
“A long overdue epic masterpiece of twentieth century Vietnam.” —Library Journal