Question about the movie "The Last Samauri"?

Question

In the movie, "The Last Samauri", Tom cruise portrays Nathan Algren and in this movie, Algren had written a book about native american indians.
Was Nathan Algren based on a real person, and if so, did he actually write this book?

Answer 1

Nathan Algren is not a real character, but a French officer, Jules Brunet (besides American mercenary soldier Frederick Townsend Ward), was partly the inspiration for his character. Brunet had fought alongside Enomoto Takeaki in the Boshin War. Takeaki was a Japanese Navy admiral faithful to the Tokugawa Shogunate, who fought against the new Meiji government until the end of the Boshin War

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jules_Brunet

The Last Samura's plot was loosely "based on the 1877 Satsuma Rebellion led by Saigō Takamori, and also on the story of Jules Brunet"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Samurai

Answer 2

Cruise's character is loosely based on American mercenary soldier Frederick Townsend Ward, who was one of the leading figures in the Taiping Rebellion in China between 1851 and 1864. Cruise had been involved in a project by John Woo based on historian Caleb Carr's novel "The Devil Soldier" which was specifically about Ward, however the project was abandoned in 1993.

Answer 3

"Cruise's character is loosely based on American mercenary soldier Frederick Townsend Ward, who was one of the leading figures in the Taiping Rebellion in China between 1851 and 1864. Cruise had been involved in a project by John Woo based on historian Caleb Carr's novel "The Devil Soldier" which was specifically about Ward, however the project was abandoned in 1993."

Answer 4

No, he's a fictional character........