Brilliant and forceful, Charles Abel was one of the most acclaimed missionaries in the South Pacific. His Kwato Mission, founded in 1891, became virtually a 'state within a state' in Milne Bay, Papua New Guinea. The influence of Kwato remained long after the Mission itself began to decline, with descendants of Mission families playing significant roles in the formation of the independent nation of Papua New Guinea during the 1960s and 1970s.

Charles Abel contributes to contemporary debate on the role of missions in the expansion of empire. David Wetherell has drawn on unpublished documents to produce a fascinating portrait of this controversial man and the dynasty he founded.