ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to survey both the history and historiography of evangelicals and mission in the Global South. The antecedents of evangelical missionary endeavour in the Global South lie in the seventeenth century. From the eighteenth century until the 1950s, the historiography of evangelical mission in the Global South consisted largely of denominational, biographical or multi-volume surveys authored by missionary leaders and activists. The focus was either celebratory, apologetic or missiological. In many ways the historiography of evangelicals and mission in the Global South has followed the contours of the movement's historical trajectory. This historiography also reflects wider shifts in the Western academy towards understanding the forces of globalization in harness with post-colonial, transnational (rather than merely national) and world histories. Another striking feature of the historiography of evangelicalism and missions has been its interdisciplinary character. Anthropology, sociology and the 'cultural' and 'imperial' turns in history have produced richly textured insights and accounts of the movement.
