This autobiography of historian, Ienaga Saburo, traces his childhood, education, wartime experiences, academic career and two major battles that occupied his later years. One was the fight against the relocation of Tokyo University of Education; the other was the fight against certification.

Spanning Japan's watershed twentieth century, this compelling autobiography traces Ienaga Saburo's childhood, education, wartime experience, academic career, and court battles. He is perhaps best known as the courageous plaintiff in three lawsuits (1965-1997) against the government seeking to end "certification" of textbooks, which even today constrains discussion of Japan's involvement in China and in the Pacific War. Minear contextualizes Ienaga's career and brings the story to the present with a masterly introduction of the man and his times and excerpts from Ienaga's court testimony and recent interviews.