History The Battle of Sekigahara: The Greatest, Bloodiest, Most Decisive Samurai Battle Ever

I bought this book with great anticipation as there a few books in English about this decisive and pivotal event and I really like the author and his work on NHK-World. The lead up to any major historical event is going to include many characters, politics, places, skirmishes, battles and sieges and to not include them would be depriving the reader of a rich narrative so they are included in this book. However I found the author's habit of the listing of names interrupted the flow of the text to the point where I often derailed my understanding and didn't know what was going on and who was who. I am a Japanophile, well-used to the Japanese language and nomenclature and as an academic, I'm used to reading complex papers and articles, but I found the first half of this book a bit of a chore to get through. It was welcome relief when, about half way through, the author introduced subjects like types of armour (I believe he apprenticed in Japan to make yoroi), food rations, strategy and the skills that the ashigaru were expert within. The book was hard-going for me but since it isone of the few book on Sekigahara in the English language, I continued to push my way through it. I suspect that watching a few documentaries, reading articles and maybe watching the dramatised films about the event will give me a greater appreciation of this book.