Converting Rulers

Alan Strathern is an Associate Professor of History at the University of Oxford.

'How do we understand religious conversion in global history? In particular, what might lead chiefs and rulers to convert to new religions? It's an important question, and Strathern has fascinating answers. This book, a companion to his much admired Unearthly Powers, takes the reader on a religious conversion tour, stopping in the Congo, Japan, Siam, and Hawaii. Each case is at once deeply individual, carefully contextualized, and linked to larger theories about conversion. Vital reading for anyone who wants to understand religious conversion in world history.' Tonio Andrade, Professor of Chinese and Global History, Emory University

• List of Figures and Maps; Preface and Acknowledgements; List of Abbreviations; Part I. Concepts: Introduction; 1. Theoretical Equipment; Part II. Cases: 2. The Miracles of Kongo, 1480–1530; 3. Money, Magic, and Mastery in the Conversion of the Daimyo of Japan, 1560–1580; 4. The Defeat of Christianity in Japan, 1560–1614; 5. Reclining Buddhas and Restless Missionaries: Narai of Ayutthaya and the Encounter with Christianity, 1660–1690; 6. Repulsion from Siam: The Revolt of 1688; 7. Hawaii: The Road to Nowhere, 1800–1821; 8. Hawaii: The High Path to Conversion 1821–1830; Part III. Global Patterns: 9. Hinduism and Confucianism and the Question of Transcendence; 10. Explaining Global Patterns of Ruler Conversion; Appendix; Glossary of Theoretical Terms; Bibliography; Index.