The explosive expansion of Christianity in Africa and Asia during the last two centuries constitutes one of the most remarkable cultural transformations in the history of mankind. Because it coincided with the spread of European economic and political hegemony, it tends to be taken for granted that Christian missions went hand in hand with imperialism and colonial conquest. In this book historians survey the relationship between Christian missions and the British Empire from the seventeenth century to the 1960s and treat the subject thematically, rather than regionally or chronologically. Many of these themes are treated at length for the first time, relating the work of missions to language, medicine, anthropology, and decolonization. Other important chapters focus on the difficult relationship between missionaries and white settlers, women and mission, and the neglected role of the indigenous evangelists who did far more than European or North American missionaries to spread the Christian religion - belying the image of Christianity as the 'white man's religion'.

About the Author
Norman Etherington recieved his BA and PhD degrees from Yale University. He joined the History Department at the University of Adelaide as a Lecturer in 1968 and was subsequently appointed Reader in History. In 1989 he moved to the University of Western Australia taking up the position of Professor and Chair of History. He is a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia, a past President of the Australian Historical Association, a Member of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), a Member of the International Association for mission studies, and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society of Great Britain.

Reviews
Missions and Empire is a wonderful addition to the OHBE series. * Kirsten V. Walles, British Scholar *
offers a multifaceted and thought-provoking study of the relationship between missions and the British Empire * Kevin Grant, Journal of British Studies *
This book features essays of uniformly high quality that articulate many important parts of the relationship between missions and empire. * Kevin Grant, Journal of British Studies *
wide-ranging and well-written collection * James Munson, Contemporary Review *
The history of missions recounted in these fascinating essays underscores the importance of the social relations of lived religion, of privileges defended and feet left unwashed * Susan Thorne, History Workshop Journal *
There is much to admire, and the book ought to continue the debate on the relationship between British mission societies and the Empire * Helena Bethea Gardner, Journal of Pacific History *
A collection that reflects the diversity both of missions inside and outside the Empire, and the diversity of approaches to the writing of those histories. * Catherine Hall, English Historical Review *



Book Information
ISBN 9780199253487
Author Norman Etherington
Format Paperback
Page Count 352
Imprint Oxford University Press
Publisher Oxford University Press
Weight(grams) 544g
Dimensions(mm) 234mm * 156mm * 21mm