- The infamous slaughter at Ikidaya Inn where, after learning of a plan to torch the city, a group of Shinsengumi viciously attacked and killed a group of anti-Tokugawa plotters
- The bloody assassination of Serizawa Kamo, the Shinsengumi leader, under highly suspicious circumstances
- The final tumultuous battles of the civil war in which the Shinsengumi fought and died in a series of doomed last stands
Author and Samurai history expert Romulus Hillsborough uses letters, memoirs, interviews and eyewitness accounts to paint a vivid picture of the Shinsengumi, their origins, violent methods and the colorful characters that led the group.