Published works that engage with India's varied Christian communities have been increasing both in quantity and in prominence over the last twenty years. This is especially the case in the social sciences where there has been a post-millennial explosion of interest in this area. Christians in South Indian villages, 1959–2009, feeds into these recent developments, but also reengages the reader with a classic work of missionary studies: Village Christians and Hindu culture. This earlier work was part of a wider exploration of missionary activity that focused on reviewing those Christian congregations that are situated just to the north of Hyderabad. These congregations were all part of a then newly founded loose coalition of Protestant churches, known as the Church of South India (CSI). Christians in South Indian villages revisits, fifty years later, the site of the Village Christians study in order to explore how things have changed. In addition to returning to the CSI churches that featured in the original study, Christians in South Indian villages expands its horizons to consider both newly founded CSI churches in the area and the many Evangelical churches that have recently appeared. The study itself was carried out by two researchers with strong CSI connections (Carman and Rao) and with the assistance of eight students, all of whom are now themselves CSI ministers. This is not then a disinterested study and the work has a practical feel to it, but (in contrast to the 1959 study) this was not an official church project. In essence, this book is the published results of that study, augmented by the presentation of general, pre-1959, contextual information, which includes both Indian history and the history of Christianity in India. The book is written in a clear and logical way that emphasises the presentation of information rather than the theorisation of developments. There are however serious attempts to organise the material and consider its practical implications. After the initial sections of the book have set the scene, through the presentation of a narrative history of both events in the region and beyond, the work turns (in chapter iv) to explore the specific findings of the two (1959 and 2009) studies. The work oscillates between the two time periods to explore the themes of healing (chapter x), inculturation (chapters viii and ix) and caste (chapter vii), before concluding with a consideration of future challenges (chapters xi and xii). The book also includes a very interesting collection of sermons, a glossary and some interesting photographs, which could have been both better reproduced and better incorporated into the work. This book connects well with Village Christians to provide valuable insight into how these communities have developed and changed. By focusing on small, village communities the work fulfils its admirable aim of bringing these seemingly peripheral communities to the centre of global debates about religion, identity and mission.