Chapter by chapter:
Dawn (vol. 1) - Set in the earliest days of archaic Japan, we see the first warfare between early human tribes.
Future (vol. 2) - Set in the far distant future when the exhausted Earth is populated only by a few machine-dependent backwards-looking people ruled by computers.
Yamato (vol.3) - Cycles of political betrayal and tribal war as Tezuka uses archaeological remnants to imagine the events in archaic Japan which resulted in the development of the current Japanese people.
Space or Universe (vol. 4) - Space exploration in the distant future explains the origins of Saruta's sufferings.
Karma (Ho-o) (vol. 5) - Set in the 8th century, the lives of two artists both searching for the Phoenix. Considered by most to be the central chapter of the saga.
Resurrection (vol. 6) - Story of Professor Saruta and Robita, spanning the gap between Space and Future.
Robe of feathers (vol. 7) - Very short story taking the form of a traditional Kabuki/Noh style play.
Nostalgia (vol. 8) - Set in the 25th century, in a a future where men have spread out far through space colonies but are called home by a Nostalgic desire for the planet where human life began.
Civil war / Turbulent times (vol. 9) - Set in late Heian japan (12th century) depicting the hunt for the phoenix amidst historical factionalism.
Life (vol. 10) -Set in 2155, depicts the exploitation of cloning.
Strange beings (vol. 11) - Set in the early 7th century, a samurai revenge story treating karmic punishment and monsters.
Sun (vol. 12) - Three part story set alternately in late 7th century Japan and the 21st century, depicting battles between traditional Shinto animist religion and the early inroads of Buddhism into Japan, contrasted with a sci-fi revolution story.