By the 1930s many American denominations became confused and divided over the appropriateness of the missionary endeavour in China. Secular American intellectuals began to criticize missionaries as trying to impose American Evangelicalism on a proud, ancient culture. By examining the lives of 47 Alabama missionaries who served in China between 1850 and 1950, Flynt and Berkley reach a different conclusion.

Wayne Flynt is a distinguished university professor emeritus at Auburn University and the author or coauthor of twelve books, including Alabama in the Twentieth Century; Alabama Baptists: Southern Baptists in the Heart of Dixie; Dixie's Forgotten People: The South's Poor Whites; and a memoir, Keeping the Faith: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Lives.

Gerald W. Berkley is an assistant director for International Support Services at Virginia Tech.