"This book is a much expanded and wholly rewritten treatment of the subject of the author's first book, Warrior Government in Early Medieval Japan, published in 1974. In this new version, the "warrior" and "medieval" character of Japan's first shogunate is significantly de-emphasized.".

"The author's new view of the final decades of twelfth-century Japan is one of a less revolutionary set of experiences and smaller achievement overall than previously thought. The pivotal figure, Minamoto Yoritomo, retains his dominant role in establishing the "dual policy" of Court and Bakufu, but his successes are now explained in terms of more limited objectives."--BOOK JACKET.