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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50 Items found Print
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101 Hymn Stories
by Kenneth Osbeck
from Kregel Publications
for 6th-12th grade
in History of Hymns (Location: XCH-HYMN)
$16.99
101 Hymn Stories
by Kenneth Osbeck
40th Anniversary from Kregel Publications
for 6th-12th grade
in History of Hymns (Location: XCH-HYMN)
$18.99
101 More Hymn Stories
by Kenneth Osbeck
from Kregel Publications
for 6th-12th grade
in History of Hymns (Location: XCH-HYMN)
$18.99
Anne Bradstreet
by Heidi L. Nichols
from P&R Publishing
Biography for 10th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$13.99 $8.00 (1 in stock)
Anne Bradstreet
Christian Renegades Series
by Doug Wilson
3rd edition from Canon Press
Biography for
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$16.95
Augustine
by P. de Zeeuw
from Inheritance Publications
Biography for 4th-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$7.95
Augustine Came to Kent
Bethlehem Books Living History Library
by Barbara Willard
from Bethlehem Books
Biography for 5th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$14.95
Autobiography of G. K. Chesterton
by G. K. Chesterton
from Ignatius Press
Autobiography for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$15.16
Bard of Avon
by Diane Stanley & Peter Vennema
from William Morrow & Company
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$7.99
Benjamin Franklin
Heroes of History
by Geoff & Janet Benge
from Emerald Books
Biography for 4th-7th grade
in Heroes of History (Location: BIO-BENGE)
$11.99
Bill Peet
by Bill Peet
from Houghton Mifflin
Biography for 4th-8th grade
1990 Caldecott Honor Book
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$18.99
C. S. Lewis: The Man Behind Narnia
by Beatrice Gormley
from Eerdmans
Biography for 9th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$16.00
Chesterton's Tavern
by Kevin Belmonte
from Canon Press
for Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$17.95
Common Sense 101
by Dale Ahlquist
from Ignatius Press
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$15.16
Elisabeth Elliot
by Geoff Benge, Janet Benge
from YWAM Publishing
Biography for 4th-6th grade
in Christian Heroes: Then and Now (Location: BIO-BENGE)
$11.99
Francis Scott Key
Sowers Series
by David Collins
from Mott Media
for 5th-7th grade
in Sowers Biographies (Location: BIO-SOW)
$8.99 $5.00 (1 in stock)
Frederick Douglass: The Right to Dignity
from Emerald Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Heroes of History (Location: BIO-BENGE)
$11.99
Freedom's Pen
Daughters of the Faith
by Wendy G. Lawton
New Edition from Moody Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Daughters of the Faith (Location: SER-DAU)
$7.99
Gift of Music
by Jane Stuart Smith & Betty Carlson
3rd edition from Crossway Books
for 6th-12th grade
in Music History (Location: ELE-MUSHIS)
$23.99
Girl From Yamhill
by Beverly Cleary
from HarperCollins
for 3rd-7th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$12.99
Grief Observed
by C. S. Lewis, with a foreword by Madeleine L'Engle
from HarperCollins
Death/Grief for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$17.99
In Search of the Little Prince
by Bimba Landmann
from Eerdmans
for 1st-4th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$17.00
Incredible Scofield and His Book
by Joseph M. Canfield
2nd edition from Chalcedon / Ross House Books
for Adult
in Covenant Theology (Location: XTH-COV)
$24.00
Invincible Louisa
by Cornelia Meigs
from Little, Brown & Company
Biography for 5th-8th grade
1934 Newbery Medal winner
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$13.99
J. R. R. Tolkien
by Humphrey Carpenter
from Houghton Mifflin
Biography for 9th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$16.99
Jane Austen
Christian Encounters
by Peter Leithart
from Thomas Nelson Publishers
Biography for 8th-Adult
in Christian Encounters (Location: BIO-CE)
$12.00
John Buchan
by Andrew Lownie, David R. Godine
Revised from David R. Godine
for 11th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$15.00
John Bunyan
by William Deal
from Christian Liberty Press
Biography for 6th-9th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$11.75 $5.00 (1 in stock)
Journey That Saved Curious George
by Louise W. Borden
from HMH Books for Young Readers
for 3rd-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$8.99
Laura Ingalls Wilder: A Biography
by William Anderson
from HarperTrophy
for 4th-10th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$9.99
Leonardo da Vinci
by Diane Stanley
from HarperCollins
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
1997 NCTE Orbis Pictus Award
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$11.99
Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien
by J. R. R. Tolkien
from Houghton Mifflin
Biographies for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$19.99 $11.50 (1 in stock)
Letters to Children
by C. S. Lewis
from Charles Scribner's Sons
Autobiographical Letters for 3rd-9th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$16.00
Life and Times of Archbishop James Ussher
by J. A. Carr
from Master Books
Biography for 10th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.00
Mahalia Jackson
Sowers Series
by Evelyn Witter
from Mott Media
for 4th-6th grade
in Sowers Biographies (Location: BIO-SOW)
$8.99 $5.00 (3 in stock)
Mark Twain and the River
by Sterling North
Reprint from Puffin Books
for 5th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.99
My Heart Lies South
by Elizabeth Borton de TreviƱo
Young People's Edition from Bethlehem Books
Biography for 8th-12th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$14.95
Narnia and Beyond
by Thomas Howard
from Ignatius Press
Biography for 9th grade-Adult
in Exploring Narnia (Location: LIR-NAR)
$15.95
Not a Tame Lion
Leaders in Action Series
by Terry Glaspey
from Cumberland House
Biography for 9th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$7.96
Professor and the Madman
by Simon Winchester
from HarperCollins
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$18.99
Samuel Francis Smith
Sowers Series
by Marguerite Fitch
from Mott Media
Biography for 6th-8th grade
in Sowers Biographies (Location: BIO-SOW)
$7.99
Shakespeare: The World As Stage
by Bill Bryson
for 10th-Adult
in Shakespeare Materials (Location: LIR-SHA)
$15.99
Story of Charlotte Mason
by Essex Cholmondeley
from Lutterworth Press
for 11th-Adult
in Charlotte Mason Education (Location: HSR-METCM)
$29.95
Surprised by Joy
by C. S. Lewis
Reissue from HarperOne
Autobiography for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$16.99
The Narnian
by Alan Jacobs
from HarperOne
for 10th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$14.99
Tolkien: Man and Myth
by Joseph Pearce
from Ignatius Press
Biography for 11th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$14.95
Ugly: A Memoir
by Robert Hoge
from Puffin Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$8.99
Up From Slavery
Copper Lodge Library
by Booker T. Washington, annotated by Stephanie B. Meter
from Classical Conversations
Autobiography for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$11.95
Who Was Laura Ingalls Wilder?
by Patricia Brennan Demuth
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 3rd-6th grade
in Who Was? biographies (Location: BIO-WHO)
$6.99
Who Was Mark Twain?
Who Was?...Series
by April Jones Prince, John O'Brien
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 4th-6th grade
in Who Was? biographies (Location: BIO-WHO)
$5.99