I’ll be all over this book like a bad f’n smell!
Check it out at Alt Japan.
There are WAAAAYYY too few books in English that look at the various military specialists, legendary bandits and unsung shadow-heroes that are today grouped under the moniker of ‘ninja.’ What is out there tends to be either dry and scholarly or so slanted towards a certain martial arts style (and/or business) they lack credibility.
Ninja Attack! True Tales of Assassins, Samurai and Outlaws looks to present some credible history with a manga flare (illos by Ninja Scroll advisor Yutaka Kondo) that will attract a wider audience. If Matt Alt and Hiroko Yoda (same authors of the excellent Yokai Attack) can get some of the Naruto set to actually learn the history behind the names they’re watching, it’ll be a truly valuable work to have out there.