489 pages
English language
Published Oct. 28, 1988 by Stanford University Press.
The tale of the Heike
4 stars
(1 review)
In late 12th Century Japan, one noble house (the Heike, or Taira, clan) attempts to sieze the throne, only to be defeated by another (the Minamoto clan).
This fictionalized oral history of the Genpei war became the foundation myth of the Kamakura shogunate. It stands as Japan's equivalent to the Illiad, or the Morte d'Arthur.
Subjects
- Taira family -- Fiction.
- Japan -- History -- Gempei Wars, 1180-1185 -- Fiction.