"A great human revolution in just a single individual will help achieve a change in the destiny of a nation and further, will enable a change in the destiny of all humankind" - Daisaku Ikeda, President of Soka Gakkai International.

The "single individual" at the heart of the 12-volume The Human Revolution is Ikeda's mentor, Josei Toda, the second president of the Soka Gakkai. Ikeda was convinced that Toda's life constituted a model for the manner in which individuals can carry out a splendid human revolution within their own lives. "It was my duty as his disciple to make certain that his life and spirit were correctly transmitted to later ages," says Ikeda.

The novelised biography of Toda begins with the day he was released from prison, and goes on to trace the development of the Soka Gakkai in Japan, from its rebirth after the Second World War to the last years of Toda. It portrays the triumph of ordinary human beings as they wage a war for peace.