The focus of this book “is on the shape and nature of the message that has been preached in China – the gospel in Chinese. It is an intellectual history, a history of Christian ideas in Chinese garb” (xiv-xv).

This slender volume conveys a powerful message of dedication, courage, and sacrificial service by women missionaries from Australia over a period of more than fifty years.

This book represents a milestone in the history of the translation of the Bible into Chinese. Building on earlier research, it fills in some gaps and provides us with a comprehensive account not only of the history of the Chinese Union Version (CUV), but also some of the reasons for its continued unique prominence as the Bible of choice for Chinese Christians around the world.

Though this book is not entirely without merit, it suffers from several fundamental flaws that are fatal to its basic thesis. It thus resembles the author’s dissertation, published as Saving God’s Face, which I have evaluated in a long review.