7 h 36 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 7 h 36 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What carries someone across an ocean when the journey brings danger, loneliness, and years far from home?
In The Book of Missionary Heroes, Basil Mathews gathers true stories of men and women who leave home to carry the Christian message to distant lands. Their routes cross rough seas, hot river country, island shores, and cold northern lands. Travel can mean months at sea, followed by journeys on foot, by river, or by pack animal.
Mathews tells these lives as adventures shaped by illness, suspicion, loss, and long patience. He presents Christian faith as the conviction behind the work, and his admiration guides the collection. These are stories meant to inspire, especially younger readers, while showing what a life far from familiar people and places can ask of someone.
What you’ll discover
- A world far from home Follow journeys into places where letters and help may remain far beyond reach.
- Courage under strain Meet people whose resolve faces rough seas, sickness, hostile suspicion, and the ache of loneliness.
- Faith behind the journey Explore how Mathews presents religious conviction as the reason these travellers accept hardship.
- Lives held as examples See how the writer uses clear heroes and strong scenes to invite thoughts about service.
- An admiring view Encounter the missionary age through a writer who wants these lives remembered with admiration.
Who will love it
You will love this book if you enjoy true adventure, sea voyages and desert crossings, or stories of single people making brave choices.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- The light passes between people
- Courage reaches across a prison door
- Kindness begins with feeding hungry people
- Lull must first rule himself
- Francis chooses peace over conquest
- A teacher chooses to stay
- Trust grows through brave acts
- Useful skills become acts of service
- Each journey carries the flame onward
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The Book of Missionary Heroes
by Basil Mathews · 1922
Missionary pioneers carry their faith to distant lands in true stories of devotion and adventure.
Medium level2–5 hours to read2 languages
Learn a language with medium classicsSpanishFrenchGermanItalianJapanesePortugueseEnglishHow we measure levels
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In short
Picture a stadium two thousand years ago. Thirty thousand Greeks crowd the Isthmian Games near Corinth to watch a relay.
The Book of Missionary Heroes at a glance
- Reading time
- About 4 h 20 min3 h 25 min fast, 5 h 10 min slow
- Length
- 61,600 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1922by Basil Mathews
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Paul carries the first torch across the sea
The book begins with Paul. Three travelers walk a Roman road in Asia Minor: Paul, Silas and a young man named Timothy. At the port of Troy they meet a doctor named Luke, and Paul tells how a blinding light on the road to Damascus changed him from a persecutor into a messenger.
One night Paul dreams of a man pleading for help from across the water. The friends agree it is a call, and they board a small coastal ship. They sail over the Aegean and land at Neapolis, then walk to Philippi.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 14 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1922
- Language
- English
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Mathews, Basil. The Book of Missionary Heroes. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-book-of-missionary-heroes.
Mathews, B. (2026). The book of missionary heroes. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-book-of-missionary-heroes (Original work published 1922)
Mathews, Basil. The Book of Missionary Heroes. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-book-of-missionary-heroes.
@book{mathews2026book,
author = {Mathews, Basil},
title = {The Book of Missionary Heroes},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-book-of-missionary-heroes},
note = {First published 1922}
}
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What is The Book of Missionary Heroes about?
It collects true stories of Christian missionaries, from Paul in the first century to workers in the Pacific, Africa, Arabia and the Near East in the early twentieth century, told as adventure tales about courage and faith.
Who are the main people in The Book of Missionary Heroes?
The chapters feature Paul, Wilfrid, Raymund Lull, Francis of Assisi, John Williams, Kapiolani, Bishop Patteson, James Chalmers, David Livingstone, Khama, Alexander Mackay, Mary Slessor, Henry Martyn and Archibald Forder.
What does the torch and relay race mean in this book?
The relay race is a Greek image the author uses to show how faith is passed from one generation of heroes to the next, and how readers can pick up the torch in their turn.
The author
Basil Mathews
1879–1951 · British missionary writer
Basil Mathews (1879–1951) was a British writer who lived in Britain during the late nineteenth and first half of the twentieth century. He wrote about Christian missionary work and the ecumenical movement, which sought cooperation among churches. His books included The Book of Missionary Heroes.
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