Translated from the Japanese

Includes bibliographical references (pages [ 195 ] - 208)

Introduction -- book 1 : The bells of Gion Monastery ; Night attack at Courtiers' Hall ; The sea bass ; Page-boy cuts ; Kiyomori's flowering fortunes ; Giō -- book 2: The admonition ; Signal fires ; The death of the senior counselor ; Yasuyori's prayer -- book 3: The pardon ; The foot-drumming ; Ariō ; The death of Shunkan -- book 4: The battle at the bridge -- book 5: The burning of Nara -- book 6: The death of Kiyomori -- book 7: Sanemori ; Tadanori leaves the capital ; The flight from Fukuhara -- book 8 [summary] -- book 9: The death of Lord Kiso ; The old horse ; The attack from the cliff ; The death of Tadanori ; The capture of Shigehira ; The death of Atsumori -- book 10: Regarding the precepts ; Senju-no-mae ; Yokobue ; Koremori becomes a monk ; Koremori drowns himself -- book 11: The death of Tsuginobu ; Nasu no Yoichi ; The lost bow ; The cockfights and the battle of Dan-no-ura ; Far-flying arrows ; The drowning of the former emperor -- book 12: The execution of Rokudai -- The initiates' book: The imperial lady becomes a nun ; The move to Ōhara ; The retired emperor visits Ōhara ; The six paths of existence ; The death of the imperial lady -- Glossary of characters

This is a new translation of substantial sections from Japan's greatest war chronicle--a famous account of the events that led to the downfall of the Heike clan and the ascendancy of the Genji clan (covering the years between 1131 and 1331). Though it has been several times translated, in full or in part, the Heike monogatari has never before been rendered by anyone the caliber of Burton Watson, the pre-eminent translator of classical Japanese and Chinese literature. Here he combines a colloquial tone with a certain formality of diction--an English style that allows him to parallel the Japanese and render nuances not heretofore visible. These events are presented with an abundance of violent action but the work is most distinguished by its tone, which is elegiac