Welsh Missionaries and British Imperialism: Studies in Imperialism

In exploring the localised actions and relationships of controversial missionary Thomas Jones and his fellow workers, the book also provides alternative and surprising readings of the role of the individual in defining the limits of freedom and the rule of law on an imperial frontier. The themes of this meticulously researched history are universal: crises of authority, the loneliness of geographical isolation, sexual scandal and rivalry, greed and exploitation, personal and institutional dogma, and individual and group morality. This book makes a significant contribution in orienting the scholarship of imperialism to a much-neglected corner of India, and will appeal to students of the British imperial experience more broadly. In its focus on the everyday experiences of individuals at the margins, it is moreover a virtuoso performance of microhistorical method.