Setelah kalah perang melawan klan Taira, Minamoto no Yoshitomo dipenggal dan keturunannya diburu untuk dihukum mati. Namun, tertinggal empat putra Yoshitomo yang selamat. Novel ini mengisahkan kehidupan Yoritomo dan Ushiwaka, mulai dari pelarian hingga mereka membangun kekuatan untuk melawan Taira no Kiyomori yang menjadi penguasa mutlak di Jepang. Ditulis dengan indah oleh Eiji Yoshikawa, dan diterjemahkan langsung dari bahasa Jepang oleh Yoko Yakebe, membuat kita serasa dibawa ke dalam kehidupan samurai abad ke 12, sambil menikmati detail-detail sejarahnya.
Author
Pen-name of Yoshikawa Hidetsugu. Yoshikawa is well-known for his work as a Japanese historical fiction novelist, and a number of re-makes have been spawned off his work. In 1960, he received the Order of Cultural Merit. Eiji Yoshikawa (吉川 英治, August 11, 1892 – September 7, 1962) was a Japanese historical novelist. Among his best-known novels, most are revisions of older classics. He was mainly influenced by classics such as The Tale of the Heike, Tale of Genji, Outlaws of the Marsh, and Romance of the Three Kingdoms, many of which he retold in his own style. As an example, the original manuscript of Taiko is 15 volumes; Yoshikawa took up to retell it in a more accessible tone, and reduced it to only two volumes. His other books also serve similar purposes and, although most of his novels are not original works, he created a huge amount of work and a renewed interest in the past. He was awarded the Cultural Order of Merit in 1960 (the highest award for a man of letters in Japan), the Order of the Sacred Treasure and the Mainichi Art Award just before his death from cancer in 1962. He is cited as one of the best historical novelists in Japan.
