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?
68 Items found Print
Active Filters: American Patriots & Heroes, 10th grade (Ages 15-16)
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 Davy Crockett
by David Crockett, illustrated by John W. Thomason
from Charles Scribner's Sons
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$18.00 (1 in stock)
Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
Dover Thrift Editions
by Benjamin Franklin
from Dover Publications
for 9th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.00 $2.50 (1 in stock)
Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
World's Greatest Literature
by Benjamin Franklin
from Spencer Press
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Benjamin Franklin
by Carl Van Doren
from Penguin Putnam
for 10th-Adult
in Clearance: History & Geography (Location: ZCLE-HIS)
Benjamin Franklin
by Carl Van Doren
from Library of America
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$14.00 (1 in stock)
Benjamin Franklin: The Autobiography and Other Writings
Signet Classics
by Benjamin Franklin
Reprint from Signet Classics
Autobiography for 9th-Adult
in 18th Century Literature (Location: LIT5-18)
$5.95
Buffalo Bill's Life Story
by William F. Cody, Illustrated by N.C. Wyeth
1966 printing from Holt, Rinehart and Winston
for 6th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
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)
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)
Captain Edward L. Beach: Around the World Under Water
by Beril Becker
from Kingston House
for 6th-10th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Carry a Big Stick
Leaders in Action Series
by George Grant
from Cumberland House
Biography for 9th-Adult
in Leaders in Action (Location: BIO-LIA)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Carry a Big Stick
Leaders in Action Series
by George Grant
from Cumberland House
Biographies for 9th-12th grade
in Leaders in Action (Location: BIO-LIA)
Declaration of Independence with Short Biographies of its Signers
by Thomas Jefferson
from Applewood Books
Primary Source Documents for 9th-Adult
in 18th Century Literature (Location: LIT5-18)
Divine Light
Leaders in Action Series
by David Vaughan
from Cumberland House
Biographies for 9th-12th grade
in Leaders in Action (Location: BIO-LIA)
Forgotten Founding Father
Leaders in Action Series
by Stephen Mansfield
from Cumberland House
Biography for 9th-12th grade
in Leaders in Action (Location: BIO-LIA)
$16.95 $10.00 (2 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
George Rogers Clark, Soldier in the West
by Walter Havinghurst
from McGraw-Hill
for 7th-10th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
George Washington & the Founding of a Nation
by Albert Marrin
from Dutton Children's Books
Biography for 7th-10th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
George Washington's Sacred Fire
by Peter A. Lillback
1st edition from Providence Forum Press
for 10th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
George Washington: Soldier and Man
by North Callahan
from William Morrow & Company
for 7th-10th grade
in Clearance: History & Geography (Location: ZCLE-HIS)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Give Me Liberty
Leaders in Action Series
by David Vaughan
from Cumberland House
Biography for 9th-Adult
in Leaders in Action (Location: BIO-LIA)
$17.95 $10.00 (1 in stock)
Helen Keller: The Story of My Life
Signet Classics
by Helen Keller
Reprint from Signet Classics
Autobiography for 7th-10th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$5.95
Helen Keller: The Story of My Life
by Helen Keller
from Dover Publications
Autobiography for 7th-10th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$1.50 (4 in stock)
Helen Keller: The Story of My Life
Signet Classics
by Helen Keller
from Living Book Press
Autobiography for 7th-10th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$15.99
Illustrious Americans - Volume 1
by Edward Everett Hale
from Mantle Ministries
Biography for 8th-10th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Illustrious Americans - Volume 2
by Edward Everett Hale
from Mantle Ministries
Biography for 8th-10th grade
in Biography Anthologies (Location: BIO-ANTH)
John Paul Jones
by Samuel Eliot Morison
from Little, Brown & Company
for 10th-Adult
1960 Biography Pulitzer Prize
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Life and Letters of "Stonewall" Jackson
by Mary Anna Jackson
from Sprinkle Publications
for 10th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
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 George Washington
by Mary Williamson
from Christian Liberty Press
Biography for 7th-10th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$11.75
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
Life of Washington
by Anna Reed
from New Leaf Press
for 10th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$16.99
Lives of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence
by Benson J. Lossing
3rd Printing from WallBuilder Press
Biography for 7th-10th grade
in American Revolution (1765-1783) (Location: HISA-18REV)
$5.00 (2 in stock)
Man Who Wouldn't Give Up: Henry Clay
by Katherine E. Wilkie
from Julian Messner
for 7th-10th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Martin Luther
by J. A. Morrison
2nd edition from Christian Liberty Press
Biography for 7th-10th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$10.50
Martin Luther
by J. A. Morrison
3rd edition from Christian Liberty Press
Biography for 7th-10th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$11.75
Miracle Worker
by William Gibson
from Pocket Books
Drama for 7th-10th grade
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Mountain Men and Fur Traders of the Far West
by LeRoy R. Hafen & Harvey L. Carter
from University of Nebraska
Biography for 9th-Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$21.95 $12.00 (1 in stock)
Narrative of the Life of David Crockett of the State of Tennessee
by David Crockett
Reprint from Bison Books
for 9th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$16.95 $8.50 (1 in stock)
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)
Presidency of George Washington
by Jack D. Warren, Jr.
from University of Virginia Press
Biography for 9th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$5.00 (2 in stock)
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)
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
Sergeant York and the Great War
by Alvin C. York
from My Father's World
Autobiography for 7th-Adult
in World War I (1914-1919) (Location: HISA-20WW1)
$22.00
Sitting Bull and His World
by Albert Marrin
from Dutton Children's Books
Biography for 7th-10th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Soldier of Virginia
by Marjorie Bowen
from Inheritance Publications
Biography for 9th-12th grade
in Inheritance Fiction (Location: FIC-WH03)
$12.95
Spirit of 1776
by Peter Seymour
from Hallmark Publications
for 6th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Spirit of St. Louis
by Charles A. Lindbergh
from Charles Scribner's Sons
Biography for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Stonewall
by John J. Dwyer
from Broadman & Holman
Biography for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Story of the Wild West and Camp-Fire Chats
by William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody
Unknown from Historical Publishing Company
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
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)
Then Darkness Fled
Leaders in Action Series
by Stephen Mansfield
from Cumberland House
Biography for 9th-Adult
in Leaders in Action (Location: BIO-LIA)
$16.95
Tom Paine, Freedom's Apostle
by Leo Gurko, illustrated by Fritz Kredel
from Thomas Y. Crowell & Co.
for 6th-10th grade
1958 Newbery Honor Book
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Tom Paine, Revolutionary
by Olivia Coolidge
from Charles Scribner's Sons
Biography for 7th-10th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Triumph of Truth
by J. H. Merle D'Aubigne
from Bob Jones University Press
Biography for 9th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$9.99
Up From Slavery
Penguin Classics
by Booker T. Washington
from Penguin Classics
Autobiography for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$12.00
Up From Slavery
Dover Thrift Editions
by Booker T. Washington
from Dover Publications
Autobiography for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$6.00 $3.00 (1 in stock)
Up From Slavery
Penguin Classics
by Booker T. Washington
from Signet Classics
Autobiography for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$5.95
Up From Slavery
by Booker T. Washington
from Gramercy Books
Autobiography for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
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
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)
William Bradford
by Gary D. Schmidt
from Eerdmans
Biography for 7th-10th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$12.00 $7.50 (2 in stock)
Wit and Wisdom of Abraham Lincoln
by Anthony Gross
from Dover Publications
for 7th-10th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Wit and Wisdom of the American Presidents
Dover Thrift Editions
by Joslyn Pine
from Dover Publications
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$2.50 $1.50 (1 in stock)
Wives of the Signers
by Harry & Mary Green
from WallBuilder Press
Biography for 7th-10th grade
in New Nation (1783-1800) (Location: HISA-18NN)