A solid history that will be particularly useful to students of colonialism.
A serviceable account of two 19th-century missionaries’ travels through the South Seas, Asia, and Africa.
To further the interests of God and Empire, British evangelicals George Bennet and Daniel Tyerman gladly accepted a charge from the London Missionary Society to inspect the organization’s far-flung network of missions and report on their successes and failures. In 1821, the two set out for the South Seas, where they made their way from one island chain to another, visiting with fellow pastors and reassuring converts to Christianity that they would enjoy divine forgiveness for their sins. Though occasionally put off by certain native practices—a fondness for infanticide on the island of Raiatea, for one—the pair kept reasonably open minds, and their reports provide a wealth of ethnographic data on then utterly unfamiliar cultures. Wondering, for instance, why it was that jackals were free to roam the streets in India, they concluded, “the impunity [these creatures] enjoy is a necessary provision for the health and comfort of human society, in a climate and a place where life and death are so frequently in contact, that, unless the perishing remains of mortality were buried out of sight as quickly as possible, existence would be intolerable, and the plague perpetual.” Quoting liberally from his subjects’ writings, Hiney (Raymond Chandler, 1997) follows the intrepid travelers to such places as Tahiti, China, and the Kalahari Desert, where they confronted pirates, slavers, ravening animals, and ferocious storms, surviving all that God could throw at them for nearly eight years. Bennet eventually returned to England from the tropics, only to find himself shivering through one of the coldest winters on record; in the years left to him, he drew on his experiences to organize antislavery efforts and drum up support for the Missionary Society, which endured until 1977.
A solid history that will be particularly useful to students of colonialism.Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-87113-823-9
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Atlantic Monthly
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2000
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
This a book of earlier, philosophical essays concerned with the essential "absurdity" of life and the concept that- to overcome the strong tendency to suicide in every thoughtful man-one must accept life on its own terms with its values of revolt, liberty and passion. A dreary thesis- derived from and distorting the beliefs of the founders of existentialism, Jaspers, Heldegger and Kierkegaard, etc., the point of view seems peculiarly outmoded. It is based on the experience of war and the resistance, liberally laced with Andre Gide's excessive intellectualism. The younger existentialists such as Sartre and Camus, with their gift for the terse novel or intense drama, seem to have omitted from their philosophy all the deep religiosity which permeates the work of the great existentialist thinkers. This contributes to a basic lack of vitality in themselves, in these essays, and ten years after the war Camus seems unaware that the life force has healed old wounds... Largely for avant garde aesthetes and his special coterie.
Pub Date: Sept. 26, 1955
ISBN: 0679733736
Page Count: 228
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Sept. 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1955
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.
A compendium of charts, time lines, lists and illustrations to accompany study of the Bible.
This visually appealing resource provides a wide array of illustrative and textually concise references, beginning with three sets of charts covering the Bible as a whole, the Old Testament and the New Testament. These charts cover such topics as biblical weights and measures, feasts and holidays and the 12 disciples. Most of the charts use a variety of illustrative techniques to convey lessons and provide visual interest. A worthwhile example is “How We Got the Bible,” which provides a time line of translation history, comparisons of canons among faiths and portraits of important figures in biblical translation, such as Jerome and John Wycliffe. The book then presents a section of maps, followed by diagrams to conceptualize such structures as Noah’s Ark and Solomon’s Temple. Finally, a section on Christianity, cults and other religions describes key aspects of history and doctrine for certain Christian sects and other faith traditions. Overall, the authors take a traditionalist, conservative approach. For instance, they list Moses as the author of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible) without making mention of claims to the contrary. When comparing various Christian sects and world religions, the emphasis is on doctrine and orthodox theology. Some chapters, however, may not completely align with the needs of Catholic and Orthodox churches. But the authors’ leanings are muted enough and do not detract from the work’s usefulness. As a resource, it’s well organized, inviting and visually stimulating. Even the most seasoned reader will learn something while browsing.
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2005
ISBN: 978-1-5963-6022-8
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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