Biographies

"Did they tell you stories about the saints of old,
stories about their faith?
Stories like that make a boy grow bold,
stories like that make a man walk straight..."

Rich Mullins, Boy Like Me, Man Like You

Stories about people have a way of affecting us in ways other stories can't. The Bible is primarily stories about people, and it is through these multiple biographies that we understand human nature, the history of redemption, and even to a great extent God Himself. The purpose behind any other biography is largely the same—to help us understand what it means to be human from the examples (sometimes even the bad examples) of those who have preceded us.

The biographies we have chosen for this section represent those of great leaders in history, social and military heroes, and Christian saints past and present who struggled to conform their lives to Christ's perfect example. We have avoided for the most part biographies of history's villains and chronic immoralists, not because they aren't interesting but because they don't represent lives worthy of imitation. We've also decided not to focus on athletes, actors, and celebrities, unless they've made important contributions outside their fields. That's not to say everyone found here was above reproach or even a Christian, but they all demonstrated real human virtues for which they are remembered.

Biographies are also useful for better understanding of a given historical period. While history books can provide good overviews of a period or events, the intimate detail of a good biography can better illustrate a time period and what it was like to be alive then. This also serves to demonstrate the universality of human nature, that people will behave basically the same during any given period and in any given place. Sometimes we get the impression that people of the past, especially people like missionaries and ministers, were somehow more pious than we are—the personal view offered by a good biography dispels this myth and offers encouragement that not even the best men and women are any closer to perfection than we are.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he's a husband and father who loves church, good food, and weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews here.
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32 Items found Print
Active Filters: France
Charlotte in Giverny
by Joan MacPhail Knight
Reprint from Chronicle Books
for 3rd-8th grade
in Artists & Illustrators (Location: ELE-ARTISTS)
Coloring Paris
by Tomislav Tomic, illustrator
from Walter Foster
for 6th-Adult
in Adult Coloring Books (Location: COL-ADULT)
Falcons of France
by Charles Nordhoff & James Norman Hall
from Little, Brown & Company
for 7th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Genealogy of the Kings of France and Their Wives
from Ouest-France
for 8th-12th grade
in France (Location: HISMC-FRA)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Jeanne Guyon
by Jeanne Guyon
1st Ed. from Whitaker House
for 10th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Joan of Arc
by Mark Twain
from Ignatius Press
Biography for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$18.95
Joan of Arc
by Josephine Poole
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Biography for 2nd-5th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Joan of Arc
by Diane Stanley
from HarperCollins
Picture Book Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$11.99 $6.00 (1 in stock)
Joan of Arc
Sterling Point Books
by Jay Williams
from Sterling Publishing Co.
Biography for 3rd-7th
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Joan of Arc
by Margaret Hodges, illustrated by Robert Rayevsky
1st edition from Holiday House
Picture Book Biography for 2nd-5th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Joan of Arc
by Régine Pernoud
1st edition from Scarborough House Publishers
for Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Joan of Arc
by Tracy Christopher
from Chelsea House Publishing
for 4th-10th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Joan of Arc
by Mary Gordon
1st edition from Viking Press
for 9th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Joan of Arc
by Jay Williams
from American Heritage Publishing Co.
for 6th-10th grade
in Horizon Caravel Books (Location: VIN-HOR)
Joan of Arc
by Demi
from Two Lions
for 5th-7th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Joan of Arc
DK Biographies
by Kathleen Kudlinski
from DK Publishing
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Joan of Arc: Heavenly Warrior
Sterling Biographies
by Tabatha Yeatts
from Sterling Publishing Co.
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
King's Day
by Aliki
from Thomas Y. Crowell & Co.
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$15.00 (1 in stock)
Life & Times of Napoleon
by Mario Rivoire
from Curtis Publishing Co.
for 8th-12th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$4.00 (2 in stock)
Louis Braille
by Margaret Davidson
from Scholastic Inc.
Biography for 2nd-5th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.99 $3.50 (3 in stock)
Louis Braille
by Margaret Davidson
from Scholastic Inc.
for 2nd-5th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$1.50 (1 in stock)
Louis Braille
by J. Alvin Kugelmass
12th Printing from Julian Messner
Biography for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Napoleon
by Manual Komroff
from Julian Messner
for 4th-9th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Napoleon and the Napoleonic Wars
by Albert Marrin
1st edition from Viking Press
for 7th-10th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc
by Mark Twain
from Living Book Press
Biography for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$17.99
Pierre-Auguste Renoir: Paintings That Smile
by True Kelley
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 3rd-6th grade
in Artists & Illustrators (Location: ELE-ARTISTS)
$3.50 (2 in stock)
Saint Jean-Marie Vianney
by Margaret Trouncer
from Sheed & Ward
for 10th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Story of Joan of Arc
by E.M. Wilmot-Buxton
from Dover Publications
for 4th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Story of Lafayette
Signature Books #7
by Hazel Wilson, illustrated by Edy Legrand
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biograhy for 4th-8th grade
in Grosset & Dunlap Signature Books (Location: VIN-SIG)
Story of Louis Pasteur
Grosset & Dunlap Signature #11
by Alida Sims Malkus, illustrated by Jo Spier
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Grosset & Dunlap Signature Books (Location: VIN-SIG)
True Story of Napoleon
by Anthony Corley
from Children's Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Who Was Joan of Arc?
Who Was?...Series
by Pam Pollack and Meg Belviso, Illustrated by Andrew Thomson
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 4th-6th grade
in Who Was? biographies (Location: BIO-WHO)