Ravaged during the Succession Wars and poorly governed by paranoid Chancellors, the Capellan Confederation has languished at the mercy of its more powerful neighbors for centuries. However, the time of Xin Sheng has arrived. A new birth. The devious and brilliant Sun-Tzu Liao leads his people into a glorious era of national pride and prosperity. Through subterfuge and warfare, he is driven to reclaim everything the Confederation has lost. Book jacket.