This is quite a book. Detailed, thoroughly researched, well written and well edited, it took me a couple of weeks to get through it. This is the story of the Waorani (Aucas) from the time of the martyrdom of the five missionaries in 1956, until now. Long writes as an objective observer, presenting all sides of the story. At times it is not pretty. Long almost goes too far in presenting the opposite side of almost every decision, every personality, and every problem that was encountered in this incredibly complex situation. The government, SIL/Wycliffe, the oil companies, the environmentalists, the anthropologists, the Bible translators, the early missionaries and the later ones as well - all have a part to play in this huge story, which is further complicated by the way it became the face of missions for many years.
I was affected in my thinking about the entire story by the details given in this book. There are many facets to it - many that are not represented in the average book written about it, of which there are scores.
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I saw that Ellen Vaughn quoted from this a lot in Becoming Elisabeth Elliot, and I wondered about it. I was curious as to what angle Long was writing from--as a Christian or not, sympathetic or not. Of course, looking back we have decades of history and a fuller picture than the missionaries would have had then.
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