This work, published in 1864, is the 'popular edition' of John Clark Marshman's account of the missionaries William Carey, William Ward and Joshua Marshman (his father), originally published in 1859 in two volumes as The Life and Times of the Serampore Missionaries. It documents the lives of the three main Serampore Missionaries from their humble origins and conversions to the Baptist Church to their pioneering work in Western Bengal. This shorter edition nevertheless contains a wealth of detail on the administration and politics of colonial India, on the experiences of the missionaries and in particular their efforts in advancing education among the indigenous people. It covers the founding of schools and later the renowned Serampore College, the missionaries' Bible translations into various languages including Bengali (Bangla) and Chinese, and their efforts to promote literacy in indigenous languages. Ward's pioneering study of Hinduism is also reissued in this series.
