TAIPING - Bob Thompson;Rob Lorton

A sweeping historical novel set against one of the most devastating uprisings in world history-the Taiping Rebellion, a conflict that claimed more than twenty million lives and reshaped 19th‑century China.

When Hong Xiuquan, a failed scholar from Guangdong, experiences visions that convince him he is the younger brother of Jesus Christ, he begins preaching a radical new faith that challenges the Qing dynasty and electrifies the poor and disenfranchised. His message spreads with astonishing speed, transforming a personal revelation into a revolutionary movement.

Across the Pacific, Elijah Roberts, an American revivalist shaped by the fervor of the Second Great Awakening, feels called to bring the gospel to China. Idealistic and determined, he enters a world he does not fully understand-one already trembling on the edge of upheaval.

Caught between them is Kan, Hong's cousin and closest confidant, a man torn between loyalty, doubt, and the terrifying momentum of a movement spiraling beyond anyone's control.

As the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom rises, alliances fracture, empires tremble, and the line between divine purpose and human ambition blurs. Through the intertwined lives of Hong, Elijah, and Kan, Taiping explores faith, identity, cultural collision, and the cost of believing too deeply in a vision of heaven on earth.

Richly researched and deeply human, Taiping brings to life one of history's most extraordinary and misunderstood eras-an epic story of conviction, delusion, and the people caught in the fire between them.