Review
This new research into the life history of Bishop Stephen Neill offers a critical history of the first half of his life, using sources previously untouched or utilized. This biography also serves as an overdue monograph on Neill, that is, an in-depth, comprehensive analysis of Neill, his times, his crises, his contexts, his writings and his relationships, during the first half of his life.
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Fidel Hernandez, Pontifical Urbaniana University, Vatican City, in Pontifical Missionary Library: Bibliographia Missionaria (2009)
In this clearly written and thoroughly researched volume the author offers a historical biography of Bishop Stephen Charles Neill from 1900-1945. ... With three useful appendices of primary sources on Neill, a list of archives consulted and interviews undertaken, further bibliographic information and an index, Daughrity rounds off his volume. ... One hopes that Daughrity, or another so capable, undertakes a complementary volume on the second half of the life of Bishop Stephen Neill - Adam Dodds, University of Otago, New Zealand, in Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies 21 (2008).
With such a balance, Daughrity makes a valuable contribution to the study of the complexities of this highly-talented individual and also to the rather neglected history of the church in the southern part of India during the tense and tumultuous days at the end of Empire.- John Conway, in Association of Contemporary Church Historians 14:10 (October 2008).
Readers will find insights into a turbulent era in Indo-British relations and the impact of these on relations between missionaries and Indian Christians, as well as tensions within the missionary community.
- Judith Brown, in Journal of Ecclesiastical History 60 (2009).
Bishop Stephen Neill is a detailed, humane, and balanced account of a person committed to Christian mission, ecumenism, and the conversion of souls. ... Daughrity's doesn t dance around the challenges and struggles Neill experienced in his life. Anyone telling a story like this has to walk a fine line and Daughrity effectively manages this.
- Mike Jones, christianbookreviews.com
At the heart of Daughrity's book is an attempt to come to terms with the reasons for Neill's departure from Tinnevelly, which has been treated for the most part with a 'conspiracy of silence' by others who have written on Neill's life. ... The most interesting aspect of Daughrity's attempt to make sense of this event lies in his treatment of the ambivalence felt about Neill by Tamil-speaking Christians, many of whom continue to revere him as a devoted church leader with a deep commitment to Indians despite his political views.
- Jeffrey Cox, University of Iowa, in The Catholic Historical Review 96:3 (July 2010).
Dyron Daughrity is to be commended for this badly needed book from the hands of a responsible researcher. - --Timothy Yates, in International Bulletin of Missionary Research 33:1 (January 2009)
From the Back Cover
"Stephen Neill is both one of the most brilliant and one of the most complex figures in the long history of the interaction between European and Indian Christians. Dyron B. Daughrity’s book is most welcome, reminding us that in the process of cultural encounters, ordinary human failings can sometimes appear writ large."
Brian Stanley, Director, Henry Martyn Centre, Westminster College, Cambridge, United Kingdom "Despite prolific scholarship, reflected in some sixty-five books, Stephen Neill’s early career, as a missionary and bishop in Tirunelveli (South India), has been shrouded in mystery. This Dyron B. Daughrity has lifted. In probing relations between Indian Christians and European missionaries, relations beset by human frailty, he has made a salutary contribution to our understanding of this remarkable, if complex, individual." Robert Eric Frykenberg, Professor Emeritus of History and South Asian Studies, University of Wisconsin—Madison
