for Gunpowder Man

A powerful account of the largest uprising in human history--the Taiping rebellion (1845-64)--in which 20 million Chinese were left dead, God's Chinese Son tells "a story that reaches beyond China into our world and time; a story of faith, hope, passion, and a fatal grandiosity" (Washington Post Book World).

The New York Times Book Review, Richard Bernstein
Jonathan D. Spence, the Yale University historian, has with his rapidly accumulating books emerged as the preeminent Western literary historian of China. . . . His new book, in which he recreates the spiritual world that nurtured one of China's most remarkable megalomaniacs, continues and enlarges on this wonderful body of work. Hon Xiuquan was the founder of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the rebel movement that seized a power base in southern China in the mid-1850s and provoked the ruling Qing Dynasty into a terrible, decade-long struggle. . . . The Taiping Rebellion, as Mr. Spence puts it, was an event "as strange as any to be found in Chinese history"--or, for that matter, in global history--and God's Chinese Son is to a great extent about that strangeness. . . . Mr. Spence's account . . . is not merely about an odd moment in history, a strange man and a strange movement. One of its many virtues is that it puts a great deal about China into fascinating perspective.

Washington Post Book World, Marie Arana-Ward
With a scholar's love of detail, a cinematic eye for color, and an evident passion for dramatic narrative, [Spence] gives us an irresistible tale--all the grander for its grip on history.

From Booklist, Alice Joyce, January 1, 1996
Newly discovered texts in the British Library convinced Spence to reassess the uprising of China's Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the actions of its leader, Hong Xiuquan. Spanning the early-to mid-nineteenth century, the resulting epic study presents a fascinating history of the sect's leader: Hong's involvement with a Christian evangelist's writings and the developing mystical beliefs that led him to become a preacher with grandiose plans for Chinese citizenry. Spence traces Hong's eventual conversion and command of legions of religious acolytes into a vast army of supporters destined to attempt an astounding overthrow of the Manchu dynasty. A richly detailed, erudite account that will mesmerize history buffs and China watchers alike.