47 Ronin

In 1701, Lord Asano Naganori is ordered to receive imperial envoys at Edo Castle and must learn the court's elaborate ceremonial from Kira Yoshinaka. Kira's sustained humiliations drive Asano to draw a blade inside the shogun's palace, an offence punished immediately by forced seppuku and confiscation of the Akō domain. His retainers lose their status and become rōnin, while the authorities expect them to accept the shogunate's judgement.

Led by Ōishi Yoshio, forty-seven former retainers conceal their intentions for almost two years, dispersing, taking ordinary work and allowing Kira's household to believe the danger has passed. Their planned assault turns loyalty to a dead lord into open defiance of Tokugawa law. John Allyn's novel follows the preparations, personal sacrifices and final attack while examining the conflict between duty, revenge, family obligations and submission to political authority.