Book excerpt: This book is the life of one of the most remarkable and neglected pioneers of the modern protestant missionary movement. Jacob Grigg was a young Cornishman who, inspired by his contemporary William Carey, was the first English missionary to volunteer for Africa. His career was a chequered one. Expelled by the Governor of Sierra Leone, he emigrated to the newly-free United States of America. There he became renowned for his ability as a preacher, evangelist and theological thinker. An emancipationist and committed to worldwide evangelism, he suffered for his views. Workloads led to alcoholic addiction which he conquered. This is the first biography of a remarkable man who died nearly two centuries ago.