Hubbell is a graduate student in History at the State University of New York, Stony Brook. In the following essay, he discusses the usefulness of Clavell's insight into the historical problems of the scientific mind and the intricacies of societal adoption of technology.

A list of historical inaccuracies in Clavell's Shogun would include the following: Will Adams, the model for Blackthorne, did not actually play such a large role in the formation of the Tokugawa Shogunate. Though Adams did become samurai and an advisor to Tokugawa, it was not until 1603. Soap, a very expensive item in 1600 Japan, would not have been used with such abandon nor on a barbarian. Birthdays were not celebrated, thus making the climatic scene at Lady Ochiba's birthday party implausible. Ishida Mitsunari, Tokugawa's rival, was not as powerful as the fictional Ishido, and he was defeated in October of 1600. His execution was typical...