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.
Did you find this review helpful?
46 Items found Print
Active Filters: American Civil War (1860-1865), 9th grade (Ages 14-15)
Abraham Lincoln & Frederick Douglass
by Russell Freedman
from Clarion Books
for 7th-12th grade
in American Civil War (1860-1865) (Location: HISA-19CW)
Abraham Lincoln in Peace and War
by Earl Schenck Miers
from American Heritage Publishing Co.
for 6th-10th grade
in American Heritage Junior Library (Location: VIN-HIS)
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's World (pictorial hardcover)
by Genevieve Foster
from Charles Scribner's Sons
Historical Non-fiction for 7th-10th grade
1945 Newbery Honor Book
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Admiral David Glasgow Farragut
by Chester G. Hearn
from US Naval Institute Press
for 9th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Battle from the Start
by Brian Steel Wills
from HarperCollins
for 9th grade-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$15.00 (1 in stock)
Call of Duty
Leaders in Action Series
by Steve Wilkins
from Cumberland House
Biography for 9th-Adult
in Leaders in Action (Location: BIO-LIA)
$16.95 $10.00 (1 in stock)
Co. Aytch
by Sam Watkins
from Touchstone
Historical Non-fiction for 8th-Adult
in American Civil War (1860-1865) (Location: HISA-19CW)
$17.00
Emancipation Proclomation
by Tonya Bolden
from Abrams Books for Young Readers
for 4th-9th grade
in American Civil War (1860-1865) (Location: HISA-19CW)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Eyewitnesses at the Battle of Franklin
by David R. Logsdon
4th edition
for 9th-Adult
in Clearance: History & Geography (Location: ZCLE-HIS)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
George B. McClellan
by Michael McHugh
2nd edition from Christian Liberty Press
Biography for 7th-10th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$10.00
Gladys Aylward: The Little Woman
by Gladys Aylward
from Moody Press
for 7th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$9.99
Hero Tales
by Theodore Roosevelt & Henry Cabot Lodge
from Cumberland House
Biography for 7th-10th grade
in Biography Anthologies (Location: BIO-ANTH)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Hero Tales from American History
by Theodore Roosevelt & Henry Cabot Lodge
Paperback, First Printing from Tolle Lege Press
Biography for 7th-10th grade
in Biography Anthologies (Location: BIO-ANTH)
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
by Harriet Jacobs
from Dover Publications
for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$5.00 $3.00 (1 in stock)
John Brown Russwurm
by Mary Sagarin, Introduction by Ernest Kaiser
1st edition from Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books
for 9th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Lady of Arlington
by Harnett T. Kane
from Doubleday & Company
for 6th-12th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Life of General Stonewall Jackson
by Mary Williamson
from Christian Liberty Press
Biography for 7th-10th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$11.75 $6.00 (1 in stock)
Life of J.E.B. Stuart
by Mary Williamson
2nd edition from Christian Liberty Press
Biography for 7th-10th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$11.75
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)
Mathew Brady
by James D. Horan
from Bonanza Books
for 8th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Mr. Lincoln Speaks at Gettysburg
by Mary Kay Phelan
from W. W. Norton and Co.
for 6th-9th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
On Slavery and the Civil War
Dover Thrift Editions
by Frederick Douglass
from Dover Publications
for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$2.00
Robert E. Lee
Heroes in Time
by John J. Dwyer
from Broadman & Holman
Biography for 9th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Robert E. Lee the Christian
by William J. Johnstone
2nd edition from Christian Liberty Press
Biography for 9th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$14.50
Sketches of the Life of Captain Hugh A. White
by Hugh A. White, William J. Hoge
from Sprinkle Publications
for 7th-Adult
in American Civil War (1860-1865) (Location: HISA-19CW)
Smiling Rebel
by Harnett T. Kane
from Doubleday & Company
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Standing Like a Stone Wall
by James I. Robertson Jr.
from Atheneum
for 6th-12th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Stonewall
by John J. Dwyer
from Broadman & Holman
Biography for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Stonewall Jackson
Sowers Series
by Charles Ludwig
from Mott Media
Biography for 7th-9th grade
in Sowers Biographies (Location: BIO-SOW)
$8.99 $5.00 (1 in stock)
Stonewall Jackson
Landmark #86
by Jonathan Daniels
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Story of Buffalo Bill
Signature Books #1
by Edmund Collier, illustrated by Nicholas Eggenhofer
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Grosset & Dunlap Signature Books (Location: VIN-SIG)
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 Dan Beard
Grosset & Dunlap Signature #43
by Robert N. Webb, illustrated by Everett Raymond Kinstler
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Grosset & Dunlap Signature Books (Location: VIN-SIG)
Story of General Custer
Grosset & Dunlap Signature #26
by Margaret Leighton, illustrated by Nicholas Eggenhofer
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Grosset & Dunlap Signature Books (Location: VIN-SIG)
Story of Robert E. Lee
Grosset & Dunlap Signature #8
by Iris Vinton, illustrated by John Alan Maxwell
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Grosset & Dunlap Signature Books (Location: VIN-SIG)
Story of Ulysses S. Grant
Grosset & Dunlap Signature #6
by Jeannette C. Nolan, illustrated by Lynd Ward
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Grosset & Dunlap Signature Books (Location: VIN-SIG)
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)
To Be a Slave
by Julius Lester
from Scholastic Inc.
Historical Non-fiction for 6th-10th grade
1969 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$4.99
To Be a Slave
Puffin Modern Classics
by Julius Lester, illustrated by Tom Feelings
from Puffin Books
Historical Non-fiction for 6th-10th grade
1969 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Ulysses S. Grant and the Strategy of Victory
History of the Civil War
by Laura Anne Rickarby
from Silver Burdett Press
for 4th-9th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Valiant Viginian
by Felix Sutton
from Julian Messner
for 4th-9th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Virginia's General
by Albert Marrin
from Beautiful Feet Books
Biography for 7th-10th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$15.95 $10.00 (1 in stock)
We Were There With Lincoln in the White House
We Were There #36
by Earl Schenck Miers, illustrated by Charles Geer
from Grosset & Dunlap
Historical Fiction for 5th-9th grade
in We Were There Series (Location: VIN-HIS)
Wit and Wisdom of Abraham Lincoln
by Anthony Gross
from Dover Publications
for 7th-10th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Year of Lincoln, 1861
by Genevieve Foster
from Charles Scribner's Sons
for 5th-9th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)