Christianity has flourished in the mountains of Ethiopia throughout its history. There are indications of a Christian presence from New Testament times; a bishop was consecrated in about 335; a Christian kingdom persisted in an area dominated by Islam until the fall of Haile Selassie in 1974; then there have been new Churches emerging in the period since then. Yet this Church developed a life, worship and culture largely isolated from and indifferent to the rest of the Christian world. Its position led to a culture shaped by its position between Europe, sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and south and east Asia. The resulting mix has fascinated and surprised visitors, but has also been unfamiliar and difficult to understand. So this book, with its broad description of the history and practice of Christianity in Ethiopia will be a guide which will be valued by those who encounter and are fascinated by the kind of faith that they find.

The first part of the book is a historical survey. It begins by assessing when and how Christianity arrived in Ethiopia. There is a full account of this earliest stage, with evidence from literary sources, coins and inscriptions to argue the date when the first bishop, Frumentius, was consecrated and the identity of the kings of the period. After that there is a more sketchy account of the sweep of history up to the present day. This traces the growth of a Christian culture, its close involvement with the king and court, its – usually harmonious – relationship with Islam and slow adjustment to the modern world.

Then there are three chapters which describe the practice and culture of the Church, and discuss some of the aspects of its life. First, there is a survey of the literary tradition of the Church. This starts with the Garima Gospels, now recognised as the oldest surviving Gospel manuscripts, and then refers to the various theological works which were written by, or translated by, Ethiopians. There is less attention given to oral traditions. This is unfortunate because the andamta tradition of biblical reflection, passed on through generations brought together a wide spectrum of material from Syriac and other eastern sources, in a form unique to Ethiopia.

Then, second, there is a description of artistic and musical life. Ethiopian church painting developed as styles from outside the country influenced local craftsmen to produce a distinctive and unmistakable art form. The architectural design of churches, which from the fifteenth century usually had a circular form with a central sanctuary, and then the music, which is traditionally traced back to St Yared in the sixth century, are also described.

The third chapter in this section is entitled ‘Theology’. Theology, here, is liturgy, and the various forms of worship are described. Liturgy is governed by a calendar of feasts and fasts, is celebrated in a space which is set aside as holy, and has retained many features from Judaism. The identification of theology with worship which is made here recognises that the liturgical rhythms govern the way of life of the Ethiopian village. The front cover shows a woman in prayer before a church, a photograph which the author says was an inspiration for him to explore her fervent faith.

The drawback of this identification of liturgy and theology is that the book overlooks the rich theological tradition of the Ethiopian Church. The author rightly points to the one-nature Christology of the Church, which he refers to as miaphysite rather than the more derogatory monophysite, although without explaining that the former is preferred because it is a numerical term, while monophysite has implications of singleness and aloneness. He says that the Church did not accept the definition of the Council of Chalcedon, which is true but inadequate. The Ethiopians were not present at this council which, as a result, did not enter into their awareness until Jesuit missionaries arrived bringing their clear and rigorous statement of the teaching of the two natures of Christ. This sparked off a debate which lasted from the arrival of missionaries in 1604 and continued after their expulsion as three distinct Christological schools developed. These became entangled with regional rivalries and the conflict ended only with a clear statement of a one-nature understanding of Christ agreed at the Council of Borru Meda in 1878. This decided in favour of the school supported by the emperor and was enshrined with the addition of the word Tawehedo, or united, to the title of the Church. None of this is covered here and the work on Christology of Ethiopian and other theologians is not referred to in the bibliography. The account of the reign of the emperor Johannes iv makes no mention of his achievement in ending the long controversy at Borru Meda.

Any treatment of the life of the Ethiopian Church has to interpret the uncompromising difference between Ethiopian and western culture, and also the awkward encounters between them. Modern research, carried out especially at the Hiob Liudolf Institute in Hamburg, has explored this. This has resulted in a reassessment of many of the sources and texts. So, to give just one example, the book refers to the mission carried out by the monastic saints, known as the Nine Saints, in the sixth century. These are here described as Syrian monophysite refugees fleeing the persecution of imperial Chalcedonians. This is a view widely repeated, but since the main sources for these events are the Lives of the Nine Saints written around a thousand years later, without other evidence to support them, scholars have questioned the historical reliability of the sources and some have questioned whether these saints ever existed. As to the suggestion of their being monophysite refugees, there are several reasons why monks might have travelled to Ethiopia as well as flight from doctrinal opponents.

It is worrying to find a number of errors which suggests a lack of care in editing as well as a number of factual errors. For example, in the two pages describing the reign of the Emperor Tewodros ii (pp. 80–2), the emperor's birth name of Kassa is given as Wassa; Begemder, which is the region to the east of Lake Tana is given as Begember; and Sir Robert Napier who led the military expedition which resulted in the death of the emperor is incorrectly named as Sir John Napier. This list could be added to.

The author gives us a valuable survey of the Christianity of this region of Africa. It helps the enquirer enter into the world of the Ethiopian Christian. Once in, there is much more to discover, both of the scholarly research which has helped the understanding of the faith and the rich traditions which have built the Church. It is a useful introduction but once introduced the reader should quickly move on to explore the life of this branch of Christianity more fully.