Table of Contents -- Preface -- Introduction -- Maps -- 1 Takachiho: The Floating Bridge of Heaven -- 2 Himiko's Lands: Gateway to Wa -- 3 Tsukushi: Isle of Unknown Fires -- 4 Dazaifu: The Distant Court -- 5 Hakata: The Making of a Mercantile Centre -- 6 Divine Wind: The Mongol Invasions -- 7 Divided Loyalties: Pirates and Rival Courts -- 8 All Under heaven: Missionaries and Warlords -- 9 Turbulent Decades: State Control and Resistance -- 10 The Great Peace in Kyushu -- 11 Kyushu in the Meiji Restoration -- 12 The Twentieth Century -- Postscript -- Appendix -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index -- Colour Plates.