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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49 Items found Print
Active Filters: Doctors & Nurses
Albert Schweitzer
by Geoff & Janet Benge
from YWAM Publishing
Biography for 4th-8th grade
in Christian Heroes: Then and Now (Location: BIO-BENGE)
$11.99
Angel of Mercy
by Rachel Baker
from Julian Messner
for 3rd-7th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Ben Carson
Heroes of History
by Geoff & Janet Benge
from Emerald Books
Biography for 4th-7th grade
in Heroes of History (Location: BIO-BENGE)
$11.99
Clara Barton
Heroes of History
by Geoff & Janet Benge
from Emerald Books
Biography for 4th-7th grade
in Heroes of History (Location: BIO-BENGE)
$11.99
Clara Barton
Landmark #58
by Helen Dore Boylston
from Random House
for 5th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Clara Barton: Civil War Nurse
Historical American Biographies
by Nancy Whitelaw
from Enslow
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Clara Barton: Founder of the American Red Cross
Childhood of Famous Americans
by Augusta Stevenson
from Aladdin Paperbacks
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Childhood of Famous Americans (Location: BIO-COFA)
$7.99
Combat Nurses of World War II
Landmark #116
by Wyatt Blassingame
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Combat Nurses of World War II
Landmark #116
by Wyatt Blassingame
from Purple House Press
for 5th-9th grade
in World War II (1939-1945) (Location: HISA-20WW2)
$13.99
Cup of Cold Water
by Christine Farenhorst
from P&R Publishing
for 4th-6th grades
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
David Livingstone
by C. Silvester Horne
from Christian Liberty Press
Biography for 7th-10th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$11.75
David Livingstone
Sowers Series
by John Hudson Tiner
from Mott Media
Biography for 5th-7th grade
in Sowers Biographies (Location: BIO-SOW)
Doctor Like Papa
by Natalie Kinsey-Warnock, Illustrated by James Bernardin
First Edition from HarperCollins
for 2nd-5th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Doctors Who Conquered Yellow Fever
Landmark #78
by Ralph Nading Hill
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Dr. Oma
Chosen Daughters
by Ethel Herr
from P&R Publishing
for 6th-10th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$17.99
Drummer Boy's Battle
TrailBlazer Books
by Dave & Neta Jackson
from Bethany House
for 3rd-7th grade
in Trailblazer Books (Location: SER-TRAIL)
Drummer Boy's Battle
TrailBlazer Books
by Dave & Neta Jackson
from Castle Rock Creative
for 3rd-7th grade
in Trailblazer Books (Location: SER-TRAIL)
$8.99
Elizabeth Blackwell: First Woman Doctor
Pioneer Books
by Ann McFerran, illustrated by Leonard Vosburgh
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 6th-9th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Elizabeth Blackwell: Girl Doctor
Childhood of Famous Americans
by Joanne Landers Henry
from Aladdin Paperbacks
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Childhood of Famous Americans (Location: BIO-COFA)
$7.99
Florence Nightingale
Sowers Series
by David Collins
from Mott Media
Biography for 5th-7th grade
in Sowers Biographies (Location: BIO-SOW)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Florence Nightingale
by Laura E. Richards
from Yesterday's Classics
Biography for 6th-9th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$10.95
Florence Nightingale
World Landmark #46
by Ruth Fox Hume
from Random House
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in World Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAN)
Galen and the Gateway to Medicine
by Jeanne Bendick
from Bethlehem Books
Biography for 5th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$14.95
Gentle Annie
by Mary Francis Shura
from Scholastic Inc.
Fictionalized Biography for 4th-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Gifted Hands
by M.D. Ben Carson
Reprinted from Zondervan
for 9th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$18.99 $9.00 (1 in stock)
Klaus-Dieter John
Christian Heroes: Then & Now
by Geoff & Janet Benge
from YWAM Publishing
Biography for 4th-7th grade
in Christian Heroes: Then and Now (Location: BIO-BENGE)
$11.99
Linda Richards
A Discovery Book
by David R. Collins
from Garrard Publishing Company
for 4th-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Louis Pasteur
Sowers Series
by John Hudson Tiner
from Mott Media
Biography for 7th-9th grade
in Sowers Biographies (Location: BIO-SOW)
Marcus and Narcissa Whitman
A Discovery Book
by Marian T. Place
from Garrard Publishing Company
for 4th-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Medical Corps Heroes of World War II
Landmark #120
by Wyatt Blassingame
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Medical Corps Heroes of World War II
Landmark #120
by Wyatt Blassingame
2022 Reprint from Purple House Press
for 5th-9th grade
in World War II (1939-1945) (Location: HISA-20WW2)
$15.99
Miracle in the Hills
by Mary T. Martin Sloop with Legette Blythe
from McGraw-Hill
for 9th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$10.00 $7.00 (1 in stock)
On Call
Jaffray Collection of Missionary Portraits
by David C. Thompson, MD
from Christian Publications, Inc.
Biography for 8th-10th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Out of My Life and Thought
by Albert Schweitzer
Reprint from Henry Holt and Company
for Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Paul Brand
Christian Heroes: Then and Now
by Geoff & Janet Benge
from YWAM Publishing
for 4th-8th grade
in Christian Heroes: Then and Now (Location: BIO-BENGE)
$11.99
Personal Life of David Livingstone
Heroes of the Faith
by W Garden Blaikie
from Fleming H Revell Co.
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Prophet With Honor
by William Henry Welch
from Julian Messner
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Soldier Doctor
by Clara Ingram Judson
from Charles Scribner's Sons
for 5th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Story of Albert Schweitzer
World Landmark #33
by Anita Daniel
from Random House
for 5th-8th grade
in World Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAN)
Story of Clara Barton
Grosset & Dunlap Signature #25
by Olive Price, illustrated by Ruth Ives
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Grosset & Dunlap Signature Books (Location: VIN-SIG)
Story of Edith Cavell
Signature Books #47
by Iris Vinton, illustrated by Gerald McCann
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biography for 4th-8th grade
in Grosset & Dunlap Signature Books (Location: VIN-SIG)
Story of Florence Nightingale
Grosset & Dunlap Signature #10
by Margaret Leighton, illustrated by Corinne B. Dillon
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Grosset & Dunlap Signature Books (Location: VIN-SIG)
Story of Louisa May Alcott
Grosset & Dunlap Signature #35
by Joan Howard, illustrated by Flora Smith
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biography for 3rd-8th grade
in Grosset & Dunlap Signature Books (Location: VIN-SIG)
Sue Barton, Rural Nurse
Sue Barton #04
by Helen Dore Boylston
from Little, Brown & Company
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Taller Than Bandai Mountain
by Dan D'Amelio, illustrated by Fred Banbery
from Viking Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$20.00 (1 in stock)
Uncommon Traveler
by Don Brown
from Houghton Mifflin
for Preschool-3rd Grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Walter Reed: Vanquishing Yellow Fever
by Edward F. Dolan, illustrated by Dan Siculan
from Encyclopedia Britannica
for 6th-10th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
We Were There with Florence Nightingale in the Crimea
We Were There #21
by Robert N. Webb, illustrated by Evelyn Copelman
from Grosset & Dunlap
Historical Fiction for 5th-9th grade
in We Were There Series (Location: VIN-HIS)
William Harvey
by Lisa Yount
from Enslow
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$5.00 (1 in stock)