This volume tells the story of the fateful last reign of the Han dynasty (206 BC - AD 220) when the Chinese empire was divided into three warring kingdoms.

Writing some 12 hundred years later, the Ming author Luo Guanzhong drew on histories, dramas, and poems portraying the crisis to fashion a sophisticated, compelling narrative that has become the Chinese national epic.This abridged edition captures the novel's intimate and unsparing view of how power is wielded, how diplomacy is conducted, and how wars are planned and fought.