In 1862, a British merchant was killed by samurai at Namamugi, a quiet village near Yokohama. One year later, a British fleet bombarded Kagoshima to extract reparations, reducing much of this south-western city to ash. This captivating re-telling, locates the story firmly within the wider context of British imperial expansion in East Asia.

List of Illustrations List of Abbreviations Map of Locations Note on the Text PART I The Many Deaths of Mr Richardson Introduction 1 ‘Afloat and Settled in China’, 1853–1862 2 The British Empire and Bakumatsu Japan, 1862–1863 3 Anatomy of an ‘Outrage’, 1862–1864 4 Namamugi Remembered PART II The Letters of Charles Lenox Richardson, 1853–1862 Note on the Letters and Acknowledgements Index