God's Chinese Son - The Paiping Heavenly Kingdom of Hong Xiuquan

The Taiping rebellion in mid-nineteenth century China, led by Hong Xiuquan, was one of the strangest and most violent events in human history, costing at least twenty million lives. From his capital in Nanjing, Hong ruled over his 'Heavenly Kingdom' for eleven years, establishing absolute power over a vast area of northern China. Historian Spence recalls some of the historical epics of the nineteenth century here, adding insight into the minds of the participants, Hong himself in particular, in a book that is both intimately detailed and epic in scope--From publisher description The Taiping Revolution in the mid 19th-century cost 20 million lives. It was led by Hong Xiquan, a visionary, who believed he had been charged to destroy the "demon devils" who did not share his beliefs. After many battles, massacres and sieges, Hong's army seized power over a vast territory. A remarkable, unconventional account of one of the most bizarre and bloody events of Chinese history, the Taiping Rebellion, by the leading historian of China