In the historiography of Catholic missionary activities across the early modern world, local and regional approaches have dominated in recent decades. Whether the focus was on Madurai in South India, on the Moxos plains of modern Bolivia, or on lordships in Japan, it has generally been clear that a meaningful, in-depth study of any particular mission would logically require a focus on that particular geographic area, often with an added emphasis on a particular ethnic, social, or linguistic group. But how to build bridges between the regions, and how to link up with general histories of the early modern period? Perhaps more than their colleagues in any other field, mission historians have struggled to find a formula. It is with the laudable aim of remedying this situation that Ananya Chakravarti has brought together, in The Empire of Apostles, six case studies from Brazil and India, covering almost two centuries...

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