When it was originally published this book broke new ground in presenting one continuous narrative of the history of Christians in Persia from the second century A.D to the 1970s. The material gathered here was previously only to be found in obscure books, manuscripts and foreign periodicals.
Christians in Persia shows the intricate history of the period concerned; the personalities of the rulers and the ruled; the difficult task of the missionaries; their successes and failures and the consequences of their efforts. All this is related to the wider history of the country and to the expansion of Christianity in the East.

Part 1: The Nestorian Planting 1. The Background 2. Christianity in Iran to the End of the Sassanian Dynasty 3. The Persian Church at the Coming of Islam 4. The Coming of Islam: The Shadow of the Ghetto 5. The Missionary Expansion of the Church 6. The Decline of the Nestorian Church and the First Contacts with Rome Part 2: The Roman Catholic Era 7. The Roman Catholic Missionary Effort Part 3: The Protestant Endeavours and the Foundings of Indigenous Churches 8. The Forerunners 9. The Coming of the Americans, 1834-70 10. Christians and Jews in Persia: The Church's Ministry among the Jews, 1844-1960 11. The Archbishop of Canterbury's Mission to the Assyrian Church, 1886-1915 12. The Presbyterian Mission to Persia 13. The CMS in Persia - Part 1: 1869-1919. 14 The CMS in Persia - Part 2: 1919-61. Appendix The Bible in Persian. Bibliography. Map. Index.

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