A Complete History of the Three Kingdoms, Vol. 1: Heroes Vie for Supremacy

The Three Kingdoms: an era of heroes, endless wars, and smoke rising from battlefields. The Three Kingdoms: an era of brilliant schemes, shifting alliances, and kingdoms repeatedly united and divided. This is a sweeping, panoramic history, an authoritative and scholarly account, and a work offering distinctive insights, told in an engaging style. Nanmen Taishou spent more than thirty years consulting historical records and analyzing events, and personally visited over a hundred Three Kingdoms sites and ruins. Drawing on official histories and a comprehensive view of the period, he revised his manuscript again and again to create this monumental work, revealing the truth of the Three Kingdoms for readers. The book begins in the final years of the Eastern Han dynasty and covers such events as the eunuchs’ seizure of power, He Jin’s assassination, Dong Zhuo’s entry into the capital, the alliance at Suanzao, Emperor Xian’s flight west, Dong Zhuo’s assassination, Wang Yun’s disastrous rule, Emperor Xian’s return east, the fall of Yijing, the conquest of Jiangdong, the campaign against Tao Qian, the duel at the camp gate, Yuan Shu’s claim to the throne, wine over green plums, Lü Bu’s defeat, Yuan Shu’s downfall, the Battle of Guandu, the Battle of Red Cliffs, the Sun-Liu alliance, the Battle of Tong Pass, and Liu Bei’s entry into Yi Province. Many historical events have long been exaggerated or invented in literature and art. These include the fact that the Battle of Red Cliffs was merely a chance encounter, and that Sun Quan, not Zhuge Liang, was the one who borrowed arrows from the enemy with straw boats. Starting from historical evidence, this book sets the record straight, restores the past as it truly was, and tells readers the real history of the Three Kingdoms.