This narrative history of China's nineteenth-century Taiping Rebellion (which cost some twenty million lives) brims with unforgettable characters and vivid re-creations of massive and sometimes gruesome battles--a riveting, both sweeping and intimate portrait of the largest civil war in history.

"This is a Borzoi book"--T.p. verso.

Dramatis Personae -- Chronology of Major Events -- Prologue: Heaven's Children -- pt. 1. Twilight -- The Preacher's Assistant -- Neutrality -- The Shield King -- Soundings -- An Appointment in the North -- pt. 2. Order Rising -- The Reluctant General -- The Force of Doctrine -- Perils of Civilization -- Endurance -- Heaven and Earth -- Crossings -- pt. 3. The Great Peace -- The Point of No Return -- Vampires -- Flowering Rain -- Blood and Honor -- Crossing the Mountain -- Epilogue.