The book is tracing this culture of military insubordination through its earliest manifestations, exploring such incidents as the Taiwan Expedition (1874), the Satsuma Rebellion (1877), and the assassinations of Queen Min (1895) and Zhang Zuolin (1928), as well as terrorist activities of group such as the Cherry Blossom Society (1931) and the Young Officers Movement (1936). Finally, it argues that the Japanese Army's culture of disobedience helped to push the country towards unbridled imperialism, entanglement in China and finally the Pacific War.