R.G. Tiedemann holds a University of London PhD in History and taught at the School of Oriental and African Studies for many years. He is a Scholars’ Council member of the Ricci Institute for Chinese-Western Cultural History, University of San Francisco, and has published extensively on the history of Christianity in 19th-century China. His most recent publication is the Reference Guide to Christian Missionary Societies in China: from the 16th to the 20th Century, (Armonk, N.Y.: M.E. Sharpe, 2009).

"The handbook offers a stock-taking of the archival resources: gives insight to the present stage, contents and achievements of historical research; it indicates as well the fields where further investigation is needed; and finally, it serves as a most helpful guide to anybody undertaking a study and research into the rich and lively history of Christianity in China." - Paul B. Steffen, SVD Bibliographia Missionaria, LXXXIV, 2010"This grand tome of a reference volume, weighing in at over four pounds, has been long awaited in the ever-growing world of Chinese Christian studies."Chloë Starr, Yale Divinity School, International Bulletin of Missionary Research, Vol. 34, No. 3, July 2010"In short, this is a volume of a gold mine of resources, references and bibliographic sources both in Chinese and English."Samuel H. Chao, Ph.D., China Ministry Report, No. 213-228, November 2010-April 2012