Despite the title this book only focuses on the rise to power by the Family of One during the Star Exodus and only gives cursory coverage to the yazi-forming of Yast and the mass exodus from the yazerian home world. It represents the comprehensive history of the rise to power by the Family of One and its domination of yazerian society in the early days of the Frontier.    
     The "bloodless" coop and rise to power of the Family by jettisoning the colonial governor and his Clan Renegade body guard while in suspended animation on the trip to Yast receives comprehensive coverage and is even handed in its treatment. The resulting suppression of Clan Renegade by the Family and the declaration of 'life enemy' of the Family by the clan read more like popular fiction than history.
     Several chapters cover the social reforms and reorganization of yazerian society on Yast and its impact on Frontier wide yazerian society. The volume ends with a serious evaluation of the "seeds of civil war," as the author coined the phrase, and a prediction of the eventual break away of all of Yast's daughter colonies.