The introduction establishes the background to the hyperinflation crisis and outlines the major issues explored in the manuscript. It begins with the creation of the fabi currency in 1935 and argues that it was set up to fail because there were few checks on expanding note issue.

It examine the currency war that erupted after the fall of Shanghai and the establishment of Japanese client regimes in Beijing and Nanjing. Each of the latter had separate currencies that were rivals with fabi.

The chapter presents the overall thesis of the study and the sources which have made it possible. New material gives an inside look at the decision-making process of the Chiang Kai-shek government. The most important has been the archives at the Hoover Institution at Stanford and material in Taiwan. The study particularly benefited from eight academic conferences at Fudan University in Shanghai.