The Devil Soldier: The American Soldier of Fortune Who Became a God in China

Summary

The Devil Soldier is the astonishing true story of Frederick Townsend Ward, a young American Mercenary who became the most honored and controver-sial American in Chinese history.

In 1859, in the midst of the bloodiest civil war China had ever seen, Ward emerged as one of the greatest military leaders in the empire. He built the “Ever Victorious Army”—otherwise known as the “Devil Soldiers”—in response to the powerful rebel threat. A highly successful force of Western-trained soldiers, Ward’s army drastically altered the course of Chinese history with a string of unexpected victories.

Decades of Chinese political turmoil and anti-Americanism have nearly erased all traces of Ward’s legacy. From the fragments of remaining documents, Caleb Carr, author of the bestselling The Alienist, pieces together the truth about the man who fought for glory and honor in a distant, troubled land that was not his own. The Devil Soldier is at once a fascinating tale of adventure in 19th-century China and an outstanding contribution to our understanding of a chaotic period of Chinese history.