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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71 Items found Print
Active Filters: American Presidents & First Ladies, Trade Paperback
Abe Lincoln Goes to Washington
by Cheryl Harness
from National Geographic
Picture Book Biography for 2nd-4th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Abe Lincoln Grows Up
by Carl Sandburg
from Graphia
Biography for 5th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$7.99 $5.00 (1 in stock)
Abigail Adams
Sowers Series
by Evelyn Witter
from Mott Media
for 5th-7th grade
in Sowers Biographies (Location: BIO-SOW)
$8.99 $5.00 (2 in stock)
Abigail Adams
by Natalie S. Bober
from Simon Pulse
Biography for 4th-7th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$13.95
Abigail Adams: Girl of Colonial Days
Childhood of Famous Americans
by Jean Brown Wagoner
Reprint from Aladdin Paperbacks
for 3rd-6th grade
in Childhood of Famous Americans (Location: BIO-COFA)
$7.99
Abraham Lincoln
Heroes of History
by Geoff & Janet Benge
from Emerald Books
Biography for 4th-7th grade
in Heroes of History (Location: BIO-BENGE)
$11.99
Abraham Lincoln
by Clara Ingram Judson
from Sterling Publishing Co.
Biography for 3rd-7th grade
1951 Newbery Honor Book
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Abraham Lincoln
Sowers Series
by David Collins
from Mott Media
Biography for 5th-7th grade
in Sowers Biographies (Location: BIO-SOW)
$8.99
Abraham Lincoln
DK Readers Level 3
by Justine & Ron Fontes
from DK Publishing
for 1st-3rd grade
in DK Readers (Location: EAR-DK)
$2.50 (1 in stock)
Abraham Lincoln
by James Daugherty
from Beautiful Feet Books
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$17.95
Abraham Lincoln
by Edgar & Ingri D'Aulaire
75th Anniversary Edition from Beautiful Feet Books
Picture Book Biography for 3rd-6th grade
1940 Caldecott Medal winner
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$17.95
Abraham Lincoln's World
by Genevieve Foster, expanded by Joanna Foster
from Beautiful Feet Books
Historical Non-fiction for 7th-10th grade
1945 Newbery Honor Book
in American Civil War (1860-1865) (Location: HISA-19CW)
$21.95
Abraham Lincoln: The Man & His Faith
by G. Frederick Owen
from Tyndale House
for 10th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Adventures of Theodore Roosevelt
by Theodore Roosevelt
from National Geographic
for 9th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$16.00
Andrew Jackson
Getting to Know the U.S. Presidents
by Mike Venezia
from Children's Press
for 1st-5th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Andrew Jackson: Symbol for an Age
by John William Ward
reprint from Oxford University
for 10th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.00 (2 in stock)
Biography of James A. Garfield
Sons of Liberty Series
by William Thayer
from A Beka Books
for 5th-9th grade
in A Beka Book Report books (Location: REA-ABK)
$9.50 (1 in stock)
Bulletproof George Washington
by David Barton
2nd edition from WallBuilder Press
Biography for 9th-adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Bulletproof George Washington
by David Barton
3rd edition from WallBuilder Press
Biography for 9th-adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Children of Mount Vernon
by Miriam Anne Bourne, illustrated by Gloria Kamen
from Doubleday & Company
for 2nd-5th grade
in Landmarks & Symbols of the United States (Location: HISV-LANUS)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Coolidge
by Amity Shlaes
from Harper Perennial
for Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
Dwight Eisenhower
by Janet & Geoff Benge
from Emerald Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Heroes of History (Location: BIO-BENGE)
$11.99
Eleanor Roosevelt
by Russell Freedman
from Clarion Books
Biography for 4th-6th grade
1994 Newbery Honor Book
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$11.95 $7.50 (1 in stock)
FDR
by Jean Edward Smith
from Random House
for Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Franklin and Winston
by Jon Meacham
from Random House
for Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
by Russell Freedman
from Clarion Books
Biography for 4th-5th grade
1991 NCTE Orbis Pictus Award
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
George vs. George
by Rosalyn Schanzer
Reprint from National Geographic
for 3rd-6th grade
in American Revolution (1765-1783) (Location: HISA-18REV)
$6.95
George Washington
by Edgar & Ingri D'Aulaire
from Beautiful Feet Books
Picture Book Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$17.95
George Washington
Heroes of History
by Geoff & Janet Benge
from Emerald Books
Biography for 4th-7th grade
in Heroes of History (Location: BIO-BENGE)
$11.99
George Washington
Sowers Series
by Norma Cournow Camp
from Mott Media
Biography for 6th-8th grade
in Sowers Biographies (Location: BIO-SOW)
George Washington
by Cheryl Harness
from National Geographic
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$8.99
George Washington & the Founding of a Nation
by Albert Marrin
from Dutton Juvenile
for 6th-10th grade
in New Nation (1783-1800) (Location: HISA-18NN)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
George Washington's Sacred Fire
by Peter A. Lillback
1st edition from Providence Forum Press
for 10th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Gettysburg Address in Translation
by Kay M., Olson
from Capstone Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in American Civil War (1860-1865) (Location: HISA-19CW)
$7.95
God and Ronald Reagan
by Paul Kengor
Reprint from Harper Perennial
for 9th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$17.99
His Excellency: George Washington
from Vintage Books
for Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
If You Grew Up With Abraham Lincoln
If You Were There
by Ann McGovern
from Scholastic Inc.
Historical Non-fiction for 2nd-5th grade
in Pioneer & Frontier Life (Location: HISA-19PIO)
$4.00 (2 in stock)
John Adams
Heroes of History
by Geoff & Janet Benge
from YWAM Publishing
Biography for 4th-7th grade
in Heroes of History (Location: BIO-BENGE)
$11.99
John Adams
by David McCullough
from Simon and Schuster
for Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$22.00 $12.00 (1 in stock)
John Adams
by David McCullough
from Simon and Schuster
for Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$12.00
Journey to Monticello
Adventures in Colonial America
by James Knight
from Troll Publishing
Non-fiction for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in New Nation (1783-1800) (Location: HISA-18NN)
Journey to Monticello
Adventures in Colonial America
by James E. Knight
from Troll Communications
Non-fiction for 1st-4th grade
in American Revolution (1765-1783) (Location: HISA-18REV)
Life of George Washington
by Mary Williamson
from Christian Liberty Press
Biography for 7th-10th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$11.75
Life of Washington
by Josephine Pollard
from Beautiful Feet Books
Biography for 3rd-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$10.95 $7.50 (1 in stock)
Lincoln: A Photobiography
by Russell Freedman
from Houghton Mifflin
Biography for 5th-9th grade
1988 Newbery Medal winner
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$12.99 $7.50 (5 in stock)
Lost World of Thomas Jefferson
by Daniel J. Boorstin
Reprint Edition from Beacon Press
for 9th-Adult
in American Revolution (1765-1783) (Location: HISA-18REV)
Meet Thomas Jefferson
by Marvin Barrett
from Random House
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$1.50 (3 in stock)
Mornings on Horseback
by David McCullough
1st edition from Simon & Schuster Macmillan
for 9th-Adult
National; Book Award
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$20.00
Naval War of 1812
by Theodore Roosevelt
from Random House
Historical Non-fiction for 10th-Adult
in War of 1812 (Location: HISA-19WET)
$15.95
Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant
Penguin Classics
by Ulysses S. Grant
from Penguin Classics
Autobiography for 10th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Ranch Life and the Hunting Trail
by Theodore Roosevelt
from University of Nebraska
Biography for 9th-Adult
in Gilded Age (1865-1918) (Location: HISA-19GI)
$18.95 $10.00 (1 in stock)
Real George Washington
American Classics Series Volume 3
by Jay A. Parry, Andrew M. Allison, and W. Cleon Skousen
from National Center for Constitutional Studies
for Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Remember the Ladies
Creative Minds Biographies
by Jeri Chase Ferris, Illustrated by Ellen Beier
from Lerner Publishing Group
for 2nd-4th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$9.99
Return of George Washington
by Edward J. Larson
from William Morrow & Company
for Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
Revolutionary John Adams
by Cheryl Harness
Reprint from National Geographic
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$7.95
Ronald Reagan
by Geoff Benge, Janet Benge
from Emerald Books
for 4th-6th grade
in Heroes of History (Location: BIO-BENGE)
$11.99
Ronald Reagan Our 40th President
by Winston Groom
from Regnery Publishing, Inc.
for 9th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$16.99
Rough Riders
by Theodore Roosevelt
from Dover Publications
Historical non-fiction for 9th-Adult
in Gilded Age (1865-1918) (Location: HISA-19GI)
$8.95
Scholastic Encyclopedia of the Presidents and Their Times
by David Rubel
First Edition from Scholastic Inc.
for 4th-6th grade
in American Presidency (Location: HISV-PRE)
$4.00 (2 in stock)
Soldier of Virginia
by Marjorie Bowen
from Inheritance Publications
Biography for 9th-12th grade
in Inheritance Fiction (Location: FIC-WH03)
$12.95
Team of Rivals
by Doris Kearns Goodwin
from Simon and Schuster
for 9th-Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Teddy Roosevelt
Sterling Point Books
by John Garraty
from Sterling Publishing Co.
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Theodore Roosevelt
Heroes of History
by Geoff & Janet Benge
from Emerald Books
Biography for 4th-7th grade
in Heroes of History (Location: BIO-BENGE)
$11.99
Theodore Roosevelt
by Genevieve Foster
2014 Reprint from Beautiful Feet Books
for 4th-9th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$11.95
Thomas Jefferson
by Cheryl Harness
Reprint from National Geographic
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$7.95 $4.50 (1 in stock)
Truman
by David McCullough
from Simon and Schuster
for Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Who Was Abraham Lincoln?
Who Was?...Series
by Janet Pascal
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 3rd-6th grade
in Who Was? biographies (Location: BIO-WHO)
$5.99 $3.00 (1 in stock)
Who Was Eleanor Roosevelt?
Who Was?...Series
by Gare Thompson
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 3rd-6th grade
in Who Was? biographies (Location: BIO-WHO)
Who Was John F. Kennedy?
Who Was?...Series
by Yona Zeldis McDonough
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 4th-6th grade
in Who Was? biographies (Location: BIO-WHO)
$6.99
Who Was Ronald Reagan?
Who Was?...Series
by Joyce Milton & Elizabeth Wolf
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 2nd-4th grade
in Who Was? biographies (Location: BIO-WHO)
$5.99
Young Abe Lincoln
by Cheryl Harness
from National Geographic
Picture Book Biography for
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$7.95