When Emperors Wept: The First Shogun's War

The late twelfth century. Japan stands on a precipice. The once-glorious Heian era fades, its refined courtly culture overshadowed by the burgeoning power of the warrior class. At the zenith of this new order stands the Taira clan, their crimson banners a symbol of absolute authority under the formidable, yet increasingly tyrannical, Taira no Kiyomori. His ambition knows no bounds, culminating in the manipulation of the Imperial succession - an act of sacrilege that plunges a nation into the abyss of civil war.

From the embers of past defeats, the Minamoto clan, the Genji, stirs. Minamoto no Yoritomo, an exile for two decades, his spirit tempered by hardship and a burning desire for retribution, receives a desperate call to arms from a wronged Imperial Prince. Cautious, calculating, and possessed of an unshakeable will, Yoritomo begins to weave a web of alliances in the Kanto, his stronghold of Kamakura destined to become the heart of a new warrior government.

But the path to power is paved with blood and sacrifice. He is soon joined by his younger half-brother, Minamoto no Yoshitsune - a military genius of almost supernatural skill, charismatic, daring, and fated for both legendary triumphs and heartbreaking betrayal. Together, they and their loyal samurai face the Taira in a series of cataclysmic confrontations: Kiso Yoshinaka's fiery brilliance at Kurikara Pass; Yoshitsune's audacious descent at Ichi-no-Tani; the desperate valor at Yashima; and the apocalyptic naval slaughter at Dan-no-ura, where an Emperor and a sacred sword are lost to the waves.

"When Emperors Wept: The First Shogun's War" sweeps readers into the heart of the Genpei War, a five-year epic of ambition, honor, loyalty, and devastating betrayal. It is a story of towering personalities - the ruthless Kiyomori, the calculating Yoritomo, the tragic hero Yoshitsune, the indomitable warrior-monk Benkei, and the astute Hojo Masako. Witness the fall of one age and the violent birth of another, as the samurai rise to claim their destiny and forge a nation in the crucible of war, establishing a Shogunate that will rule Japan for nearly seven hundred years. But as the dust of battle settles, a new, more insidious conflict brews, testing the very bonds of blood and loyalty, proving that the most dangerous enemies often lie within.