The native martyrs of Uganda , the first-fruits of martydom in Central Africa, fill one of the most glorious pages in Christian history. The culminating point was the great holocaust when in one day a dozen Catholics and a dozen Protestants were trussed head on knees, feet and hands bound to their necks - and hurled into the flames. But this book is not simply a story of martydom. It is a complete picture of the tradition, culture and way of life of the Baganda people from whom the martyrs sprang. We see their earliest religion, the worship of one God; then the coming of the clan gods, introduced to help the king in his control of the people but bringing human sacrifice, magic and immortality in their train. The moral deterioration was completed by the Arabs; who, however, also introduced the monotheism of Islam. The came Catholic and Protestants. The growth of the three is shown against the background of tribal organization, custom and intrigue, with a suspicious king even more suspicious of Christianity. One might be observing a Renaissance court, so tangled are the motives that finally produce the explosion.