"A significant and superb contribution to modern Chinese history as well as to Catholic Mission history, and should trends in the academic profession break in the right way . . . it could become something of a trailblazer in a new and necessary mode of spirit-informed history-writing."- Eric Cunningham (The Catholic World Report) "[A] welcome addition to what one hopes will become a growing scholarly discussion on the development of Christianity in Shanxi. . . . The author delivers his account in an easy, empathetic style, reflecting the autobiographical nature of the more unique archival material he has explored. . . . Helps the reader to move beyond simplistic understandings of the actors as Chinese savages and/or Western barbarians."- Andrew T. Kaiser (The China Quarterly) "[A] fine addition to the literature on Catholic missions and the Boxer catastrophe."- Ernest P. Young (Catholic Historical Review) "Clark does good work here, work underpinned by a remarkable collection of archival sources drawn from the United States, China, and the Vatican. He treats the sources with careful skepticism and uses them to piece together a compelling story of both the Franciscans and the Boxers. Clark argues convincingly that the two groups were consciously engaged in spiritual warfare, albeit with different methods and different goals. . . . This is a useful book for scholars interested in the Boxer Uprising, in Chinese society of the late nineteenth century, and in the ground-level experience of popular uprisings everywhere."- Dave Sibley (H-Net Reviews) "[A] unique approach to very different questions, ones in which the uprising itself often appears as a backdrop, rather than the main narrative. . . . Rather than narrowly focusing on the Boxer violence, this book presents a world in which such events were only one of many concerns."- Thomas David DuBois (Nan Nu) "Heaven in Conflict provides a vivid and at times moving account of one of the most horrific events during the Boxer Uprising. . . . Heaven in Conflict enhances our understanding of modern Chinese social history through its emphasis on human experience. . . . Clark also deserves credit for his thoughtful use of participant and victim accounts, including autobiographical writings and letters."- Paul R. Katz (American Historical Review) "A historian of Christianity in China, Clark takes readers back to one of the most catastrophic episodes of the Boxer uprising: the Taiyuan massacre. He dissects the violence and the resistance to examine the religious and cultural beliefs on both sides. . . . Women, both the Franciscan sisters and their counterparts, the local Red Lanterns, are an integral part of the story."- Ji Li (Twentieth-Century China)
