In his 'Prelude', the author explains that this book is "an attempt to make South America a little more real to such as are interested; and for those ... specially concerned for the work of the Evangelical Union of South America, an effort to depict ... the background and environment in which that work is being carried on." There is very little mention of the missionary work itself - indeed, the book is more of a travel guide to these then relatively unknown parts of the world. Written in a conversational style, it is an easy read, and offers the reader a good idea of the writer himself as a warm and approachable man. There is very little information available about the Rev. A. Stuart McNairn, but it is clear that he was sent by the Evangelical Union of South America (founded in Liverpool in 1911) as a missionary to work in the Catholic countries of Argentina, Brazil and Peru. In 1934 the BBC broadcast a programme on the National Programme Daventry channel (later to be replaced by BBC