History of Christianity and Missions in Mainland Africa (19 vols.)

In 1815, C.I. Lastrobe was commissioned by the United Brethren Church to deliver an official report on their missionary settlements in South Africa. Latrobe kept an extensive diary throughout his visit, noting not only the mission’s progress but details concerning the people, geology, and culture of South Africa. Drawn from his letters, diaries, and drawings, Journal of a Visit to South Africa is a firsthand account of missions in Africa at the beginning of the nineteenth century.

Discover nineteenth-century Africa with Robert Moffat—the father-in-law of David Livingstone. Moffat was a lifelong missionary whose exploits were influential in stirring the church to send missionaries abroad. Written during a brief furlough, Missionary Labours and Scenes in Southern Africa is the record of over 20 years of missionary adventures.

Nearly 30 years after the success of Missionary Labours and Scenes in Southern Africa, an updated account of Robert Moffat’s experiences in Africa was in high demand. Drawn from his letters and lectures, A Life’s Labours in Africa: The Story of the Life Work of Robert Moffatt is an account of Moffat’s final decades of ministry.

Explore the geography and wildlife of Africa with this guidebook. Written by evangelist and natural scientist Henry Drummond, Tropical Africa documents his observations of the rivers, insects, lakes, geology, and culture of the continent. Drummond includes special insight on the spiritual condition of Africa’s people and his assessment of its pressing political problems. This vivid account offers a snapshot of Africa at the beginning of the twentieth century.

Draw inspiration from a lifelong missionary to Africa. Penned by his sister Alexina, this biography of Alexander Mackay is meant especially for young readers. Beginning with his childhood in Aberdeenshire, Scotland and spanning his missionary life in Africa, The Story of the Life of Mackay in Uganda draws readers in with lively detail and action.

Meet the first Presbyterians to bring the gospel to the Congo. William H. Sheppard—one of the earliest African American missionaries of the Presbyterian Church—recalls his early days as a “barefoot boy” in Virginia, his journey to Africa, and his famous partnership with Samuel Lapsley in the Congo. Presbyterian Pioneers in the Congo is ahead of its time—a sympathetic portrayal of the people and culture of Africa.

Learn the complete history of Episcopal missions in Africa in the first half of the nineteenth century. E.F. Hening’s firsthand account details African culture and the personal lives of the missionaries. Written to stir interest in foreign missions, this book highlights evangelistic victories on the continent.

Read a passionate condemnation of the slave trade in this comprehensive history of Wesleyan missions in Western Africa. William Fox decries the horrors of human trafficking and documents the advance of the gospel in the face of extreme obstacles. His exhaustive account of the early years of African missions honors those who lost their lives in the struggle to evangelize “the Dark Continent.”

Immerse yourself in the world of nineteenth-century missions with this children’s Sunday school resource. Mrs. Cabot’s nieces are eager to hear missionary stories from their ailing aunt. She regales them with tales of her husband and brother, whose adventures in Africa and Haiti fascinate the children. This unique resource serves as a succinct summary of nineteenth-century American Baptist missions.

Investigate the social, cultural, moral, and civic benefits of missionary activity. John Philip argues that there are more than spiritual effects to missions. In Researches in South Africa he catalogues the positive effects missionary efforts produced in South Africa.

Investigate the social, cultural, moral, and civic benefits of missionary activity. John Philip argues that there are more than spiritual effects to missions. In Researches in South Africa he catalogues the positive effects missionary efforts produced in South Africa.

Experience Africa through the words of one of the most influential missionaries of the nineteenth-century. David Livingstone’s exploits thrilled audiences in Victorian England. His avid support of British colonialism and crusade against slavery helped shape the British Empire’s public policy. His sensitivity to cultural conventions in Africa influenced generations of missionaries. Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa summarizes his journeys in Africa up to his resignation from the London Missionary Society in 1857.

David Livingstone believed that in order to abolish the slave trade, it was necessary to establish legitimate commercial trade routes in Africa. To that end, the British government financed his explorations of the continent beginning in 1858. This book describes his journeys in that period, offering detailed descriptions of the geography and people of Africa. True to what he believed to be his divine calling, Livingstone details some of the worst horrors of the African slave trade.

Discover the private life of one of Victorian England’s most celebrated public figures. Though David Livingstone wrote much of his travels and discoveries in Africa, he wrote little of his personal life. This volume, based on journals and personal correspondence, provides a complete picture of the life of an influential African missionary.

By 1857, David Livingstone was convinced that he would be unable to complete his work in Africa. While remaining committed to Christianity, commerce, and civilization—the three principles he believed would cause Africa to prosper—he was persuaded that a future generation would see his vision through. In his lectures to students at Cambridge, Livingstone recounted his exploits as a means to inspire future generations to carry on his mission.

Get a firsthand account of the West’s perception of nineteenth-century Africa in this guidebook. Written at a time when competing theories of human descent were vying for prominence, this book defends the common ancestry of the entire human race. Rejecting ideas that African people are in some way sub-human, it surveys the tribes of Africa, highlighting their culture and societal structures.

Review the history of European exploration of Africa up to 1879. Written as a handbook for missionaries and other travelers, Africa: Past and Present is a succinct record of the complicated history of European colonization and evangelization in Africa .

Read stories from the early days of the Livingstone Inland Mission. When Fanny Emma Guinness began her chronicle of missionary activity in the Congo and beyond, many scoffed at the notion that the “inferior races” of Africa could ever be fully Christianized. Her dramatic stories of conversion and missionary progress serve as an apologetic for missionary work in Africa.

Round out your understanding of South Africa with this polemical history written at the beginning of the twentieth century. W. Basil Worsfold places his subject in historical context, examining the political circumstances that gave rise to the South Africa of his time. A blunt endorsement of British rule in South Africa, A History of South Africa stands as a record of Great Britain’s rationalization for colonialism.