My relative ignorance of this important piece of modern history is a bit of an embarassment to me, and at some point I intend to rectify it. So, I need some suggested reading.
I'd be hoping for something along the lines of
A book (or several) providing an overview of the history Qing government, to better understand its development, workings, sources of legitimacy, chronic issues, etc.
A book (or several) on the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the conflict itself.
and, though I imagine this might not be available in English, something focusing specifically on the human toll, atrocities, etc both during the rebellion itself and the surrounding unrest of the 19th century. Journal articles would be fine too.
I hope this gives an idea of what I'm looking for! Any similar suggestions, or even particularly good works on other conflicts/times of unrest in other eras of Chinese history would be welcome too! Thanks!
A book (or several) providing an overview of the history Qing government, to better understand its development, workings, sources of legitimacy, chronic issues, etc.
Chang, Jung (2013). Empress Dowager Cixi. Knopf. Her regency only overlapped with the last stages of the Taiping Rebellion, but this book does give a good view of the inside workings of the Qing government and its chronic issues.
A book (or several) on the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the conflict itself.
Focussing on the Taiping state and the key players in the Taiping state: Spence, Jonathan D. (1996). God's Chinese Son: The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom of Hong Xiuquan. Norton.
For the role of the West, and the view from the West: Platt, Stephen R. (2012). Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom: China, the West, and the Epic Story of the Taiping Civil War. Knopf.
A book (or several) providing an overview of the history Qing government, to better understand its development, workings, sources of legitimacy, chronic issues, etc.
Philip A. Kuhn, Rebellion and its Enemies in Late Imperial China: Militarization and Social Structure, 1796-1864 (1980) – This one discusses the gradual decentralisation of the Qing state in the context of the organisation of militias, such as the supplanting of Baojia as the basis of the militia system with the tuan, from the White Lotus Rebellion through to the end of the Taiping, with a generous amount of background, much of which is pre-Qing.
Jonathan D. Spence, Emperor of China: Self-Portrait of K'ang-Hsi (1988) – focusses exclusively on (indeed, based entirely on diaries, letters, memorials and quotations from) the Kangxi Emperor (ruled 1661-1722) but giving a good view of the Qing's honeymoon period whilst also hinting at its chronic shortfalls.
A book (or several) on the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the conflict itself.
Firstly, to expand on Spence and Platt a bit (already noted by u/wotan_weevil), both are longer reads, clocking in at 300-400 pages each, and each devotes more focus to particular parts of the rebellion. Spence is focussed on Hong Xiuquan, and so the narrative gradually loses the wider events as Hong himself continued to retreat into seclusion. Additionally, Spence's writing style is prone to digression, which is either a blessing that fleshes out the narrative and draws you into the action by painting around you the details of 19th century China, or a curse of information overload that leaves you staring at the page in frustration. Platt has a far tighter style of writing, which has its own merits, although the narrative only picks up with Hong Rengan's arrival in Nanjing in 1858. This means that you do pick up where Spence (or in some ways Hong through Spence) leaves off, but it does leave you wondering what he makes of the earlier period beyond the odd reference. Contrasting the two, Spence is more focussed on religion and Platt on politics, diplomacy and military affairs, so in some ways the coverage can be a bit incomplete even if you take the two together, thanks to Spence's relatively vague coverage of the early Taiping campaigns and Platt's general omission of religion except where relevant to politics.
Aside from the above two, there are a few others that I would recommend.
Thomas H. Reilly, The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom: Religion and the Blasphemy of Empire (2004) – The first thing you need to know is that this book is solely interested in the background of the Taiping in missionary Christianity, what it inherited and what it eschewed, and the consequences of its defeat on later missionaries. Reilly's concise overview of pre-Taiping missionary activity is reasonable, but when he gets to his middle section, he never really makes distinctions between earlier and later Taiping theology or the ideological struggles of its senior leadership, and overlooks key pieces of evidence like Hong's rewriting of sections of the Bible, which Spence devotes much space to. Take it with a grain of salt at best.
Franz H. Michael and Zhong Lizhang, The Taiping Rebellion, Volume 1: History (1966) – I can only assume that this volume was printed in vastly more quantities than the two volumes of documents it intends to be an introduction for, because it is surprisingly easy to buy a used copy on Amazon. In contrast to Spence and Platt, Michael gives even coverage to both chronological halves of the rebellion, and also has over a dozen highly detailed maps, placed together at the end for easy reference, that can feel lacking in the other two. The theological discussion in Michael's book is light, as is the coverage of Western perspectives and involvement, so in some ways Spence's and Platt's books are perhaps best as companions to Michael's, despite each being twice the length.
Jian Youwen, The Taiping Revolutionary Movement (1973) – Spence and Platt's introductions both say that the reason they do not write comprehensive narratives is because others have done it better. By 'others', they mean Jian. I will admit now that I have not read Jian, but his work is apparently the most comprehensive of all the English-language books. It must be noted that Kuhn recommended Michael as the best introductory volume, and I would agree, especially now, but for reasons of cost rather than time. I was lucky to get my hands on a copy for around $60 USD as Amazon offers are almost always >$100.
Augustus Lindley, Ti-Ping Tien Kuoh (1866) – Lindley resigned his Royal Navy commission in 1859 and joined the Taiping via Shanghai. His account of earlier events is therefore hardly the best and his eyewitness accounts narrow in scope, but nonetheless a valuable resource that is available, either online or as a reprint from 2012.
Of the above, I'd probably recommend them in the following order:
I'd place Jian, Lindley and Reilly as a tie, with Reilly if you want religion, Lindley if you're interested in a more primary account and Jian if you have a deep enough wallet.
and, though I imagine this might not be available in English, something focusing specifically on the human toll, atrocities, etc both during the rebellion itself and the surrounding unrest of the 19th century. Journal articles would be fine too.
Surprisingly enough, a book has been published focussed on exactly that:
Tobie Meyer-Fong, What Remains: Coming to Terms with Civil War in 19th Century China (2013) – Meyer-Fong takes the exact opposite approach to Platt, looking at the popular reaction to the rebellion, from practical affairs like burials to abstract ideas like the memory of the dead, governmental changes like the rise of local relief organisations and religious reaction such as neo-Confucian pamphleteering. It must be noted that her book doesn't look much beyond Jiangnan, and so you don't get an idea of what provinces like Fujian, Hunan or Guangzhou were experiencing. In some ways this is more a highly comprehensive case study than a survey.
EDIT:
Any similar suggestions, or even particularly good works on other conflicts/times of unrest in other eras of Chinese history would be welcome too! Thanks!
I have not read the following two books in particular but have read other books by the same authors, so take my recommendation with a pinch of salt.
Jonathan Spence, Treason by the Book (2001) – Revolving around the case of Zeng Jing, who attempted to secure the overthrow of the Yongzheng Emperor in the 1720s and 30s but ended up in a lengthy period of correspondence with the ruler, through which his pardon was secured.
Tonio Andrade, Lost Colony: The Untold Story of China’s First Great Victory over the West – An account of the Sino-Dutch War of 1661-8, in which Ming loyalists under Koxinga, a member of one of China's largest mercantile families, successfully ousted the Dutch from Taiwan.
(The book by Andrade that I read was The Gunpowder Age: China, Military Innovation, and the Rise of the West in World History (2016), which includes a brief discussion on the Sino-Dutch War, but is more focussed on the divergent development of military technology and organisation generally. The Taiping Rebellion gets only a brief mention.)