Wow! eBook
Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom: China, The West and the Epic Story of the Taiping Civil War Main Edition
Author(s): Stephen R. Platt (Author)
- Publisher: Atlantic Books
- Publication Date: 1 July 2012
- Edition: Main
- Language: English
- Print length: 512 pages
- ISBN-10: 0857897667
- ISBN-13: 9780857897664
Book Description
In the early 1850s, during the waning years of the Qing dynasty, word spread of a major revolution brewing in the provinces. The leader of the this movement – who called themselves the Taiping – was Hong Xiuquan, a failed civil servant who claimed to be the son of God and the brother of Jesus Christ. As the revolt grew and battles raged across the empire, all signs pointed to a Taiping victory and to the inauguration of a modern, industrialized and pro-Western china. Soon, however, Britain and the United States threw their support behind the Qing, soon quashing the Taiping and rendering ineffective the years of bloodshed the revolution had endured. In Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom, Stephen Platt recounts the events of the rebellion and its suppression in spellbinding detail. It is an essential and enthralling history of the rise and fall of a movement that, a century and a half ago, might have launched China into the modern world.
Editorial Reviews
Review
Stephen Platt brings to vivid life a pivotal chapter in China’s history that has been all but forgotten… Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom is a fascinating work by a first-class historian and superb writer. –Henry Kissinger
This book’s title promises a lot, and Stephen R. Platt delivers: Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom is an intricate and compelling historical narrative rich in military campaigning, vivid personalities and, above all, diplomatic misunderstanding… Authoritative and fascinating, Platt’s work will interest both the specialist and the casual reader (like me) who wants to learn about an event that presaged China’s entry into the modern world. –Minneapolis Star Tribune
A marvellous account of a largely forgotten but major event. Combines great scholarship with a driving narrative and sharp characterisation. –Jonathan Fenby, author of The Penguin History of Modern China
About the Author
Stephen R. Platt received his PhD in Chinese history at Yale and teaches Chinese history at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. His work has been supported by the Fulbright program, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation.
