Coming in July - Annotated & Illustrated Edition of Saburo Sakai's "Samurai"

[Edward]

This looks interesting and leaves me slightly hopeful. However there is nothing amongst the sample pages that I haven't already seen in Henry Sakaida's Winged Samurai: Saburo Sakai and the Zero Fighter Pilots (Champlin Fighter Museum Press 1985). That was certainly a revelation for those of us who grew up reading the original Sakai, Saito & Caidin English language edition of Samurai! back in the 60's & 70's.

Samurai! New Annotated & Illustrated Edition
(Sea Eagle Books - July 2026)
by Saburo Sakai
Edited and Annotated by Alvaro Lino
338 pages - paperback (6" x 9")

Sample pages at link below.

"The classic memoir of the Pacific air war - now fully annotated and illustrated.

This edition includes:
1. Extensive annotations identifying and correcting historical inaccuracies
2. Explanatory notes clarifying events and providing historical context
3. A new introduction
4. Illustrated central plates featuring wartime photographs and a map

"For nearly seventy years, Samurai! has been one of the most widely read and influential memoirs of the Pacific air war. This New Annotated & Illustrated Edition preserves the complete original text while providing the historical context and corrections it has long required."

The Editor
"Alvaro Lino is an independent researcher and aviation historian specializing in the history of Japanese naval aviation during World War II. His work focuses on the combat operations, personnel, and aircraft of the Imperial Japanese Navy.

This annotated edition of Samurai! is the culmination of several years of research in Japanese-language primary sources and modern historical scholarship from both Japan and the West. Drawing upon this research, the edition reexamines many aspects of Saburo Sakai’s wartime experiences and provides a more accurate historical framework for understanding his combat career.

Samurai! New Annotated & Illustrated Edition is the first title published by Sea Eagle Books, an independent publishing imprint dedicated to preserving and promoting the history of Japanese naval aviation and the men who flew its aircraft."

https://www.seaeaglebooks.com/home