The Devil Soldier - by Caleb Carr (Paperback)

About the Book

A courageous leader who became the first American mandarin, Frederick Townsend Ward won crucial victories for the Emperor of China during the Taiping Rebellion, history's bloodiest civil war. Carr's skills as historian and storyteller come to the fore in this thrilling account of the kind of adventurer the world no longer sees. Photographs.

Book Synopsis

"So marvelously improbable, so rich in exotic detail, that if often reads more like a historical thriller than the serious work of history that it is."--Los Angeles Times

With the same flair for history and narrative that distinguished his bestseller, The Alienist, Caleb Carr tells the incredible story of Frederick Townsend Ward, the American mercenary who fought for the emperor of China in the Taiping rebellion, history's bloodiest civil war. The Devil Soldier is a thrilling, masterfully researched biography of the kind of adventurer the world no longer sees.

Praise for The Devil Soldier

"If ever a book of history were made for the movies, Caleb Carr's The Devil Soldier is it."--Chicago Tribune

"Good, thorough, scholarly but absorbing."--Edward Rice, author of Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton

Review Quotes

"Imagine an American version of Lawrence of Arabia at large in nineteenth-century China, add the devil-may-care exploits of Indiana Jones and the high moral purpose of Robin hood, and you'll have a rough idea of what the adventurer Frederick Townsend Ward was really like. His story, recounted by Caleb Carr in The Devil Soldier with authority and high spirits, is so marvelously improbable, so rich in exotic detail, that if often reads more like a historical thriller than the serious work of history that it is."--Los Angeles Times

"If ever a book of history were made for the movies, Caleb Carr's The Devil Soldier is it."--Chicago Tribune

"Good, thorough, scholarly but absorbing."--Edward Rice, author of Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton

About the Author

Caleb Carr is a contributing editor of MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History and the series editor of the Modern Library War Series. His military and political writings have appeared in numerous magazines and periodicals, among them The World Policy Journal, The New York Times, and Time. He currently lives in upstate New York.