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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26 Items found Print
Active Filters: 20th Century Exploration, 8th grade (Ages 13-14)
Admiral Richard Byrd
Sterling Point Books
by Paul Rink
from Sterling Publishing Co.
Historical non-fiction for 5th-9th grade
in 20th Century Exploration (Location: HISW-20EXP)
Book of Discovery
by M. B. Synge
from Yesterday's Classics
for 7th-12th grade
in History Spines & Surveys (Location: HISRF-SPINE)
$20.95
Danger in the Desert
by Roger Cohen
from Sterling Publishing Co.
for 5th-9th grade
in 20th Century Exploration (Location: HISW-20EXP)
Endurance
by Caroline Alexander
1st edition from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 8th-Adult
in 20th Century Exploration (Location: HISW-20EXP)
$12.00 (2 in stock)
Ernest Shackleton
by Geoff & Janet Benge
from YWAM Publishing
for 4th-8th grade
in Heroes of History (Location: BIO-BENGE)
$11.99
Explorers & Discoverers - 4 Volume Set
from UXL Publishing
biographical encyclopedia for 5th-8th grade
in World History Reference (Location: HISW-REF)
$30.00 (1 in stock)
Flying to the Moon
by Michael Collins
from Sunburst Book
for 4th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$8.99
Great Adventurers of the Twentieth Century
by Ron Tagliapietra
from Bob Jones University Press
Biography Anthologies for 8th-Adult
in 20th Century Exploration (Location: HISW-20EXP)
$12.95
Great Discoveries and Amazing Adventures
by Claire Llewellyn
from Kingfisher
for 4th-8th grade
in Archaeology (Location: HISRF-ARCH)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Heroes of Polar Exploration
by Ralph Andrist
from American Heritage Publishing Co.
for 6th-10th grade
in Horizon Caravel Books (Location: VIN-HOR)
John Charles Fremont
by Ronald Syme
from William Morrow & Company
for 4th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Kit Carson: Folk Hero and Man
by Noel B. Gerson
from Doubleday & Company
for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Kon-Tiki
by Thor Heyerdahl
from Pocket Books
Non-fiction/Adventure for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$8.99
Kon-Tiki
by Thor Heyerdahl, Translated by F. H. Lyon
from Rand McNally
Non-fiction/Adventure for 8th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Lindbergh Alone
by Brendan Gill
from Harcourt, Brace & World
for 4th-9th grade
in Clearance: History & Geography (Location: ZCLE-HIS)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Mission Control, This Is Apollo
by Andrew Chaikin, Victoria Kohl
from Viking Press
for 4th-9th grade
in Space Race & Exploration (Location: HISA-20SPR)
Mrs. Chippy's Last Expedition
by Caroline Alexander
from Harper Perennial
for 8th-Adult
in 20th Century Exploration (Location: HISW-20EXP)
Mystery On Everest
by George Mallory
from National Geographic
for 4th-8th grade
in Clearance: History & Geography (Location: ZCLE-HIS)
$2.00 (2 in stock)
New York to Nome
by Rick Steber, Photography by Sheldon Taylor
2007 Revised from Bonanza Publishing
for 8th-Adult
in 20th Century Exploration (Location: HISW-20EXP)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
North Pole
A Doubleday Signal Book
by Tony Simon, Illustrated by Albert Orbaan
from Doubleday & Company
for 4th-8th grade
in 20th Century Exploration (Location: HISW-20EXP)
$6.00 (2 in stock)
Roald Amundsen: A Saga of the Polar Seas
by J. Alvin Kugelmass
from Kingston House
for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World
by Jennifer Armstrong
1st Pbk. Ed from Crown Publishers
for 4th-8th grade
1999 NCTE Orbis Pictus Award
in 20th Century Exploration (Location: HISW-20EXP)
$12.99
Story of Polar Conquest
by Logan Marshall, ed.
from Vision Forum
for 7th-Adult
in 20th Century Exploration (Location: HISW-20EXP)
$16.00 (1 in stock)
To the Top of the World
by Mark Sufrin
from Platt and Munk Publishers
for 4th-8th grade
in 20th Century Exploration (Location: HISW-20EXP)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Trial by Ice
by K. M. Kostyal
from Scholastic Inc.
Picture Book Biography for 4th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Triumph on Everest
by Broughton Coburn
from Scholastic Inc.
for 4th-8th grade
in 20th Century Exploration (Location: HISW-20EXP)
$3.00 (1 in stock)