This book introduces to statebuilding literature the case of Japan, demonstrating the ways in which farmer negotiations with warlords formed the bedrock of a medieval economy that enabled the consolidation of the state.
"Ambitious and challenging, this book applies comparative political theories to the history of war and state-formation in Japan's violent medieval centuries. Essays by six historians richly depict the complex dynamic that resists easy generalization, while the editors' interpretations suggest new angles for exploring this exciting period further."
