As a missionary in Kashmir, India, in the early 20th century, Cecil Tyndale-Biscoe polarised opinion through his unconventional educational methods and his attempt to change the social order of a society steeped in old traditions. He was a man of contradictions: a Christian and a boxer, a missionary who made very few converts, a staunch supporter of British imperialism and a friend of Kashmir's political reformers. Aged 27 when he became the Principal of the Church Missionary Society's school in Kashmir, his vision was of a school in action, vigorously involved in the affairs and problems of...