The book is started from the battle between Seiwa-Genji (Minamoto clan) and Kanmu-Heishi (Taira clan) in the end of Heian period, and the history of various clans, from the Hojo clan, the Kusunoki clan, the Nitta clan, the Ashikaga clan, the Mori clan, the Gohojo clan, the Takeda clan, the Uesugi clan, the Oda clan, the Toyotomi clan, to the Tokugawa clan is described focusing on the rise and fall of the samurai families by dividing the story into each family line (Biographical style.)
平安時代末期の清和源氏・桓武平氏の争いから始まり、北条氏・楠木氏・新田氏・足利氏・毛利氏・後北条氏・武田氏・上杉氏・織田氏・豊臣氏・徳川氏までの諸氏の歴史を、武家の興亡を中心に家系ごとに分割されて（列伝体）書かれている。