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Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom by Stephen R. Platt audiobook

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

By Stephen R. Platt
Read by Angela Lin

Recorded Books, Recorded Books, Inc.
17.56 Hours • Unabridged
Format : CD (In Stock)
  • 2 Formats: CD
  • 2 Formats: MP3 CD

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    ISBN: 9781664407725

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Stephen R. Platt is widely respected for his incisive nonfiction, particularly in regard to his knowledge and understanding of China. With Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom, Platt details the absorbing narrative of the Taiping Rebellion, which resulted in the loss of 20 million lives. Occurring in the 1850s, this is the story of a cultural movement characterized by intriguing personages such as influential military strategist Zeng Guofan and brilliant Taiping leader Hong Rengan.

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Summary

Summary

Winner of the Cundill Prize in Historical Literature

A New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice

A 2012 Washington Post Notable Book for Nonfiction

Stephen R. Platt is widely respected for his incisive nonfiction, particularly in regard to his knowledge and understanding of China. With Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom, Platt details the absorbing narrative of the Taiping Rebellion, which resulted in the loss of 20 million lives. Occurring in the 1850s, this is the story of a cultural movement characterized by intriguing personages such as influential military strategist Zeng Guofan and brilliant Taiping leader Hong Rengan.

Editorial Reviews

Editorial Reviews

“Narrator Angela Lin keeps the story moving with her vocal clarity and excellent pacing, and she’s adept at pronouncing the Chinese names.” —AudioFile
“The ambitious scale and lively writing make Platt’s book an excellent entree into a pivotal event in world history.” —Choice magazine
“A refreshing and gripping account that illuminates how civil conflicts can suck in outsiders and why the West has had great difficulties in trying to maintain a façade of neutrality and protect its commercial interests at the same time…Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom…is powerful, dramatic, and unforgettable.” —San Francisco Chronicle
“A compelling and often meticulous account…Platt is at his best when dissecting the often absurd dynamics of Western intervention.” —Daily Beast
“Splendid…An upheaval that led to the deaths of twenty million, dwarfing the simultaneously fought American Civil War, deserves to be better known, and Platt accomplishes this with a superb history of a nineteenth-century China faced with internal disorder and predatory Western intrusions.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Platt presents the perplexing Taiping Rebellion that convulsed China’s Qing dynasty from 1851 to 1864…Incorporating his perceptive characterizations and a comprehensible account of Zeng’s ultimately victorious military campaigns, Platt has skillfully converted his erudition into an eminently general-interest treatment of what may have been the most lethal civil war in world history.” —Booklist (starred review)

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Author

Author Bio: Stephen R. Platt

Author Bio: Stephen R. Platt

Stephen R. Platt is a professor of Chinese history at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. His book Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom was a Washington Post notable book, a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice, and winner of the Cundill History Prize.

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Details

Details

Available Formats : CD, MP3 CD
Runtime: 17.56
Audience: Adult
Language: English

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