The authors examine the interaction of missionary organizations with local political powers and with their home government, arguing that in trying to decide which course of action to pursue, missionaries became knowledgeable students of imperial politics and the shifting state of international affairs. They show that leadership of British missionary societies was split between those who wanted to be treated without favouritism by the British government and those who had more aggressive expectations. In doing so they explore the pressures that contributed to the formation of imperial policy and perspective during a significant period of the evolution of the British empire.

James G. Greenlee is a professor emeritus of History at Sir Wilfred Grenfell College, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

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Charles M. Johnston is professor emeritus of history at McMaster University and the author of McMaster University, Volume 2: The Early Years in Hamilton, 1930–1957.

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"it is refreshing to read a work well grounded in primary sources ... concerned with analysing historical patterns rather than indicting historical actors." Ruth Compton Brouwer, Department of History, King's College, University of Western Ontario.