The three translations in this book complete the story told partially in the Tale of the Heike: that of the decades, crucial in Japanese history, between 1156 and 1221. They are The Tale of the Hogen Years, which treats a disastrous attempt by a deposed emperor to regain the throne; The Tale of the Heiji Years, which covers the murderous clash between two rival court factions; and A Record of the Jokyu Years, which deals with a failed imperial attempt to suppress the shogunal government established late in The Tale of the Heike by Minamoto no Yoritomo. In short, they supplement The Tale of the Heike by relating what led up to its events and what followed them.