The history of pioneer missionary engagement with hitherto unevangelised peoples is one of the most fascinating and potentially fruitful areas of investigation for historians of religion. The pressures induced by the encounter of cultures raise perennially fascinating issues: the dilemmas about the true essence of the Gospel, the relationship between missionary and political or cultural imperialism and the place to be accorded to local ‘creolisations’ of Christian practice highlight, in a very pointed way, some of the key concerns of the discipline. Moreover, there is no shortage of scope for such work – missionaries have always been enthusiastic producers of documentation, whether in reports to funding societies, or in more widely published narratives of missionary endeavour. In spite of these factors, missionary activity and the texts that record it have received a relatively scant degree of scholarly engagement. This dearth can be accounted for in part by the complex methodological issues raised by work of this sort. These volumes epitomise the challenges and the rewards of this sort of engagement. The Presbyterian Church of East Africa is solidly – even stolidly – historical in its approach. Wamagatta is very strong on facts. His account is meticulously researched and larded with references to an impressive range of sources. He is, perhaps, less convincing in interpretation. In particular, his theological discussions lack precision – he seems to suggest that the People's Church was pre- and post-millennial in its theology. Similarly, it is disconcerting to be informed that its doctrine ‘largely resembled that of the Adventists and the Baptists’ (p. 18) as though the two denominations were all but indistinguishable. It is also a pity that the sources used are not described in more detail, or much quoted from. The very extensive primary work behind this book remains in the background – buried in the footnotes in a way that eliminates flavour and interest. Notwithstanding these caveats, this is a solid piece of scholarship that does a commendable job of documenting the pressures and dilemmas that inform so much missionary writing. In particular, the discussion of the debate surrounding female circumcision, and the considerable and far-reaching controversy that it engendered, provides a fascinating case study of the challenges posed by the contact of cultures.

Communication and conversion in northern Cameroon adopts a far more interdisciplinary approach. In a heavily theoretical introduction Drønen describes his project as ‘an interdisciplinary work, where the point of departure is mission history, but where most work has been done in the Carrefour where theology meets social sciences’ (p. 2). This ‘anthropological history’ approach also embraces a valuable diversity in sources. Drønen draws on archive material in Norway and France, using internal confidential reports, and published material. He also relies on fieldwork carried out amongst the Dii. This range of sources allows him to tell the story of the missionary encounter in the Cameroon from the perspectives of the evangelist and the evangelised. As the title suggests, a key interest of this volume is the way in which missionaries communicated their message and, in particular, how the Lutheran understanding of conversion was refracted by those to whom they preached. Both of these very different books are worth reading. Both provide fascinating discussions of the intricate imbrications theological, cultural and political factors inextricably linked with the missionary project. The diversity of their approaches emphasises the value of an interdisciplinary methodology in seeking to unpack the complexities of missionary engagement.