The Last Shogun

This text examines the life of Tokugawa Yoshinobu, born in 1837, he came to power 30 years later as the 15th successor to the Tokugawa shogunate. Though his ancestral claim and his will to become a shogun were never as powerful as those of his enemies, he far outclassed them. The book discusses how he came to power just as the Tokugawa regime was suffering the worst military defeat in its history, and Yoshinobu strongly suspected that the rule of the Tokugawas was swiftly becoming an anachronism. The book chronicles how during a year of frenetic activity, he overhauled the military systems, reorganized the civil administration, promoted industrial development and expanded foreign intercourse, all with the farsighted aim of creating a unified Japan.