The Devil Soldier: The Story of Frederick Townsend Ward

ok, this book was a delightful surprise from a master historian. i'd known about Townsend Ward from the treatment of an unmade film script that pitched him in what i quickly (after reading only 100 pages of the book) realised was a totally hollywood light that showed William Walker as somewhat more than he was and TW as his "able lieutenant." in reality, TW deserves much more recognition that WW has gotten - in fact, he is one of the most overlooked figures of the 19th century (an epoch overflowing with "overlooked figures"). enjoy adventure stories? military background stories? china stories? are you a history buff? get the book - you're likely to love it!

A slow book but worth reading. This bok explores some of the early American involvement overseas.

Caleb Carr is an excellent historian, but a terrible writer. He covers everything in excessive detail and has more chinese names in his book than there are in all China! He also uses complex sentences ad nauseum. Reading this book is too stressful for most people. Simple declarative sentences would work much better. We learned those in eighth grade.

quick service. great quality book.

Great historical account.

This is the interesting story of someone that is practically unknown to the modern reader. He was an American sailor and adventurer who, in the most well known of his rather unknown exploits, assembled a force of several thousand Chinese soldiers, taught them a Western style of warfare and helped the Imperial Chinese government defeat the Taiping rebellion. The book itself is fairly well written and is even provided with an appendix noting the major characters and who they were in the scheme of things. This is a good addition because the reader will be challenged by the large number of names of people and places of which to keep track during the story. As noted, it is a most interesting story, but the book is only recommended to a dedicated reader who is willing to put in the effort to keep all the details straight.

Fascinating history, and an early work by Carr, though it frequently suffers most from a lack of the Chinese perspective.

When you mention to most (Americans) about the civil war of the 1860's, most likely they'll think you're talking about "The War Between The States", The American Civil-War.However, roughly around the same time that America's North & South were slowly edging towards that great tragedy over the issue of slavery, a different civil war was gripping another of the Earth's great nations half a world away in a struggle that would claim millions(!) of more lives than even that more famous (to the American mind) struggle. The Taiping Rebellion (1851-1864), initiated by Hung Hsiu Chuan, a man who had failed in China's examinations to become a civil-servant, was a war over religious beliefs, ideology, & class-struggle. Hung, in a "vision" had believed himself to be the younger brother of Jesus Christ(!) His Taipings, made up of neo-Christian Chinese converts, frustrated & angered over the corruption & poverty imposed upon them by their inept Manchu rulers, captured several Chinese cities, established their base in Nanking, & nearly succeeded in toppling the Chinese (Manchu) empire. Hung's Christian learnings came from an American, Issachar Roberts. One of his oppoenents, an important adversary, a soldier for hire who had worked in Mexico, California, & Texas as a professional mercenary, who came to China & trained Chinese soldiers in the most up to date weaponry & tactics (as well as absorbing much of China's military culture), was an American also: Fredrick Townsend Ward.Ward was a loner, a man who worked for prestige rather than money, a man who was stern yet fair to his band of mercenaries, & a man free of racial prejudices. He was the classic warrior, a character you would expect to find in westerns & adventure movies. However, he was real! He fought against both the Taiping Rebels, who he respected in battle & who respected him, as well as the corruption of his Manchu employers & the British military, who saw Ward's actions as a threat to the West's (Europe & the U.S.A.'s) strict policy of neutrality. In the end, he died in battle, but he won what he prized above anything else, recognition for his outstanding achievements in this most deadly of occupations. For a brief moment in history, thanks to Ward, East met West in a joint-collaboration to form a team of fighting men the likes of which the world had never seen. (Imagine the sight. American & European mercenaries armed not only with rifles & cannon, but also being acquainted with Chinese martial-arts weapons, including swords, spears, & bamboo-clay "bombs", filled with gun-powder, natural poisons, & (yuck!) human feces. Fighing alongside with them are Ward's Chinese troops, wearing the traditional Manchu queue (pigtail) & also armed with traditional martial-arts weapons, but also instructed (by Ward) in the use of Sharp's rifles, Colt revolvers, & modern cannon & mortars! Again, this isn't a comic-book fantasy or a Jackie Chan movie, this was real life!)Caleb Carr does a meticulous, yet gripping, & in fact, fast-paced narrative on Ward's life. This book, along with Evan Connell's "Son of The Morning Star" & Dee Brown's "Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee" should be a classic in historical reading. It gives a good portrait of the times, the nations, & the individual characters of this truly international struggle. (It wasn't just Chinese & Manchus. The British, The Americans, The French, The Russians, & even Filipino mercenaries all played a part in this epic true-life story.) It's tragic, compelling, uplifting at times, & depressing at others. However, one thing is certain. It educates & entertains without compromising on either count!Hollywood (& Hong-Kong) film-makers take notice! This book is the stuff of great action-films, with heroes (& villains) that you would find in the greatest Westerns, the romance of high-adventure, & (given the culture & the methods of the major antagonists) all the flash of a martial-arts movie classic! ("Crouching Tiger" eat your heart out!)Buy this book if you can. You won't be dissappointed.