"Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom"

Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom: China, the West, and the Epic Story of the Taiping Civil War (Stephen Platt)

I've got two books about the Taiping rebellion, and I think I should have read God's Chinese Son first; I didn't realize from the subtitle that Platt's book is all about the Western view of the Taiping rebellion. This is a very strange choice to make - Platt ends up super fast-forwarding through the entire first half and the last bit of the rebellion, instead focusing on the stretch of the war when the Western powers interfered. This makes for a searing indictment of England's misguided intervention, but as a actual "Epic Story of the Taiping Civil War", well, no, not really. I guess I could recommend this if you've already read a nice book about the conflict and are looking for another perspective on it, or if you're writing a research paper on the subject of foreign intervention in Qing China, but otherwise, take a pass. Very disappointing.

Grade: D
Bonus: Link to Amazon review that sums up my feelings pretty well.