SAVING CHINA: CANADIAN MISSIONARIES IN THE MIDDLE KINGDOM, 1888-1959. Austin, Alvyn J. Toronto, University of Toronto Press, c1986. 395pp. cloth, $27.50, ISBN 0-8020-5687-3. CIP Post-Secondary Reviewed by J.H. Harkness Volume 15 Number 2 1987 March In 1888, the first Canadian missionary enterprise to China began with a triumphant torchlight procession in Toronto. One lifetime, the proverbial threescore-years and ten. later, the last Canadian missionary slipped quietly across the border out of Red China. Alvyn J. Austin, himself a "missionary kid," sets out in this book to recount a "story of people," a "fascinating group of people." a "story of 'us', of Canadians in China" through those seventy years. He tells this adventure story very readably in an unpartisan fashion. We follow chronologically the tales of the three branches of mission work: the evangelical Protestants, the liberal Protestants, and the Roman Catholics. He divides his story into three main eras, entitling the 1888-1900 period, "The Saving Gospel"; the 1901-1927 period. "The Social Gospel"; the 1927-1959 period. "The Political Gospel"; finishing with an epilogue on "The Lost Churches." where we find that, after the death of Mao. active church persecution ended in China. Subsequently, more recognition was accorded to Christianity and it is reckoned there are now anywhere from twelve to thirty million Christians openly active in China. Canada, of course, was not the only source for missionaries to China, but it is a fact that “in proportion to their size and resources, the churches of Canada sponsored more missionaries than any other nation in Christendom.” There are many charming and evocative photographs scattered through the text. Austin also provides sixty-one pages of comprehensive “notes and sources,” plus a good index. The subject may not be to everyone's taste, but it is fun to read. J.H. Harkness, Emergy C.I., Weston, Ont.