In late Victorian and Edwardian England, says Steven Maughan, foreign missions had a broad resonance and significance not adequately explored by historians of English culture. Mighty England Do Good f
In late Victorian and Edwardian England, says Steven Maughan, foreign missions had a broad resonance and significance not adequately explored by historians of English culture. Mighty England Do Good fills that lacuna by examining the rapid growth of foreign missions in the Church of England between 1850 and 1915, culminating at the height of the missionary enterprise in Britain. Maughan's book bridges the gaps between religious, cultural, and imperial history to give a full picture of the movement's importance.
Maughan explores Anglicanism as a microcosm of the larger religious culture of Britain, particularly in light of the expanding British empire. This book provides a multidimensional reassessment of the power that foreign missions had to shape belief, institutions, culture, and practice not only within the Church of England but also in the broader culture of the time.
The Catholic Historical Review
"Anyone working on Anglican missions in the Victorian and Edwardian periods will find Steven Maughan's study an invaluable guide."
The Catholic Historical Review
"Anyone working on Anglican missions in the Victorian and Edwardian periods will find Steven Maughan's study an invaluable guide."
Anglican & Episcopal History
"A major contribution to the history of Anglican foreign missions, but also to that of the Victorian Church of England more generally. It is a very significant work of scholarship and serves to be consulted for many years to come."
Victorian Studies
"Extraordinarily comprehensive. . . . Will surely offer the definitive account of the history of Church of England missions for many years to come. A major triumph of synthesis. . . . It is hard to imagine that it will be bettered."
Andrew Porter
— King's College London
"The last two decades have seen an explosion of interest in Britain's Christian missions. Steven Maughan's monumental study will be of particular significance in understanding the complexities of British overseas expansion, the changing nature of metropolitan religious society, and the ideology of evangelicalism everywhere. The range of Maughan's research will make this an indispensable starting point for years to come."
Jeffrey Cox
— University of Iowa
"Steven Maughan's Mighty England Do Good provides the best introduction to one of the most important voluntary institutions of modern England - the Anglican missionary enterprise. Guiding readers through the complexities of the High Church and Evangelical church parties, he explores competing visions of the relationship between Christianity, English national identity, and empire."
Rhonda Semple
— St. Francis Xavier University
"A much-needed study. . . . Maughan argues convincingly that as Britain became modern, increasingly tied to and shaped by its international links, the foreign missions of its national church mattered immensely to its developing national identity, at home as well as abroad. In particular, Maughan's meticulously researched and elegantly written work does what most mission histories do not: it offers a nuanced analysis of the contribution of women and gender in missions."
Mission Studies
"In this comprehensive history of the foreign missions in the Church of England, Maughan has masterfully interpreted the voluminous data on the subject and dexterously documented his findings. With its bold questions and incisive responses, this book would be of interest to students in the fields of mission history, Anglicanism, gender, and postcolonial studies."
Church Times
"This book demonstrates the complexities of the missionary enterprise, and of the engagement with cultures both imperial and encountered in the Empire. Then, as now, there are powerful questions, ecclesiological and theological, behind the too easily uttered mantras of mission. Among other things, this book reminds us of the historical roots of the Anglican Communion, which still bears the imprint of the conflicts and tensions, and — yes — heroic Christian endeavor — recounted in this scholarly and important major study."
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