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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'Tis
by Frank McCourt
from Charles Scribner's Sons
Autobiographies & Memoirs for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$6.50 (1 in stock)
13 Soldiers
by John McCain and Mark Salter
from Simon and Schuster
for Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
32 Christians Who Changed the World
by Glenn S. Sunshine
from Canon Press
for 10th-Adult
in Church History (Location: XCH-HIS)
$21.95
A is for Abigail
by Lynne Cheney
1st edition from Simon and Schuster
for Kindergarten-4th grade
in Biography Anthologies (Location: BIO-ANTH)
$19.99
A. Lincoln and Me
by Louise W. Borden
from Scholastic Inc.
for 3rd-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$4.00 (3 in stock)
Abe Lincoln Gets His Chance
by Frances Cavanah
from Rand McNally
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Abraham Lincoln (hardcover)
by Ingri and Edgar Parin d'Aulaire; edited by Rea Berg
75th Anniversary from Beautiful Feet Books
Biography for 1st-6th grade
1940 Caldecott Medal winner
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$18.95
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)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Abraham Lincoln, the Writer
by Harold Holzer
from Boyds Mill Press
for 6th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Abraham Lincoln: A Man for All the People
by Myra Cohn Livingston, illustrated by Samuel Byrd
from Holiday House
for Kindergarten-5th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Adventure of Missionary Heroism
by John C. Lambert
from Vision Forum
Biography Anthologies for 7th-Adult
in History of Missions (Location: XCH-MIS)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Adventures of Herge
by Michael Farr
from Last Gasp
for 4th-10th grade
in Adventures of Tintin (Location: COM-TIN)
$29.95
Again Calls the Owl
by Margaret Craven
from G.P. Putnam's Sons
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Alexander the Great
by Robert Green
from Grolier Publishing
Biography for 4th-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Alexander the Great, Killer of Men
by David J. Lonsdale
from Carroll & Graf Publishers
for Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$5.00 (2 in stock)
Alice
by Stacey A. Cordery
from Viking Press
for Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
All Hands Aloft!
by Lou A. Schmitt
from Howell-North
for 9th-Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Amazing Grace of Freedom
by Ken Wales, Susan Wales, Ted Baehr
2nd edition
for 6th-10th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Amazing Mr. Doolittle
by Quentin Reynolds
from Appleton-Century-Crofts
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
America the Beautiful
by Ben Carson with Candy Carson
from Zondervan
for 10th-Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
America the Beautiful/ A Man of Destiny
by the editors of Country Beautiful Magazine
from Country Beautiful
for Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
American Faith
by Kevin Swanson with Joshua Schwisow, Daniel Noor, and Peter Bringe
2nd edition from Generations
for 7th-8th grade
in Miscellaneous History Curriculum (Location: HISCUR-MISC)
$31.50 (1 in stock)
American President
by Philip Kunhardt, Jr., Philip Kunhardt III, Peter Kunhardt
from Riverhead Books
for Adult
in American Presidency (Location: HISV-PRE)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
An Autobiography or The Story of My Experiments with Truth
by M. K. Gandhi
from Navajivan Publishing House
for Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Andrew Carnegie and the Steel Industry
American Tycoons
by Lewis K. Parker
from PowerKids Press
for 1st-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Ann of Ava
by Ethel Hubbard, Illustrated by Margaret Ayer
2017 Reprint from Accelerated Christian Education
for 8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Answering the Cry for Freedom
by Gretchen Woelfle, Illustrated by R. Gregory Christie
from Calkins Creek
for 4th-7th grade
in American Revolution (1765-1783) (Location: HISA-18REV)
$19.99
Art of Art for Children's Books
by Diana Klemin
1st edition from Clarkson Potter Publishers
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
At the End of the Santa Fe Trail
by Sister Blandina Segale
4th Printing from Bruce Publishing Co.
for Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini
by Benvenuto Cellini
from International Collectors Library
for 9th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Autobiography of William Allen White
by William Allen White
from Macmillan
for Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
B. Franklin, Printer
by David A. Adler
from Holiday House
for 6th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$8.00 (2 in stock)
Babe Didrikson Zaharias: Striving to Be Champion
by Helen Markley Miller, illustrated by Richard Mlodock
from Encyclopedia Britannica
for 5th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Bach's Goldberg Variations
Once Upon a Masterpiece
by Anna Harwell Celenza & JoAnn E. Kitchel
from Charlesbridge
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Music History (Location: ELE-MUSHIS)
$16.95
Bad News for Outlaws
by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson
from Carolrhoda Books, Inc.
for 5th-7th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$19.99 $10.00 (1 in stock)
Battle from the Start
by Brian Steel Wills
from HarperCollins
for 9th grade-Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$15.00 (1 in stock)
Beatrix Potter's Journal (Abridged)
by Beatrix Potter, abridged and introduced by Glen Cavaliero
from Viking Press
for Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Because Barbara
by Sarah Mackenzie, illustrated by Eileen Ryan Ewen
from Waxwing Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$18.99
Becoming C. S. Lewis
by Harry Lee Poe
from Crossway Books
for 10th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$22.99
Becoming C. S. Lewis - 3 Volume Set
by Harry Lee Poe
from Crossway Books
for 10th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$77.32
Beethoven's Heroic Symphony
Once Upon a Masterpiece
by Anna Harwell Celenza, illustrated by JoAnn E. Kitchel
from Charlesbridge
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Music History (Location: ELE-MUSHIS)
$16.95
Behind the Scenes
by Elizabeth Keckley, edited by Frances Smith Foster
from Lakeside Press
for 10th-Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Benjamin Franklin
by R. Conrad Stein
from Rand McNally
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$3.00 (2 in stock)
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)
Better a Shield Than a Sword
by Edward Teller
from Free Press
for Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Black Elk's Vision
by S. D. Nelson
from Abrams Books for Young Readers
for 3rd-6th grade
in Native American History (Location: HISA-19NAT)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Black Panther of Sivanipalli
by Kenneth Anderson
1960 printing from Rand McNally
for Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Blockhead: The Life of Fibonacci
by Romola Anderson, R. C. Anderson
1st edition from Henry Holt and Company
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$19.99
Book Lover's Bucket List
from British Library
for Adult
in Great Britain / England (Location: HISMC-BRIT)
$24.95
Book of Concord
by William Howarth
from Viking Press
for Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Born Free
by Joy Adamson
Anniversary from Pantheon Books
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
BOX: Henry Brown Mails Himself to Freedom
by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Michele Wood
from Candlewick Press
for 4th-6th grade
2021 Newbery Honor Book
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$17.99
Boy Who Drew Birds
by Jacqueline Davies
from Houghton Mifflin
for 1st-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$17.99 $11.50 (1 in stock)
Boy Who Loved Math
by Deborah Heiligman, illustrated by LeUyen Pham
from Roaring Brook Press
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Boy Whose Head was Filled With Stars
by Isabelle Marinov; illustrated by Deborah Marcero
from Enchanted Lion Books
for 2nd-5th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$18.99
Boys in the Boat adapted for Young Readers
by Daniel James Brown, adapted by Gregory Mone
from Penguin Putnam
for 6th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$20.99
Brave Heroes and Bold Defenders
by Shirley Raye Redmond, illustrated by Katya Longhi
from Harvest House
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biography Anthologies (Location: BIO-ANTH)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Breaking Through the Clouds
by Sandra Nickel; illustrated by Helena Perez Garcia
from Harry N. Abrams, Inc.
for 1st-4th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$19.99
Brothers Grimm
by Raymond H. Miller
from Thomson Learning
for 4th-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Burma Surgeon
by Gordon S. Seagrave
from W. W. Norton and Co.
for Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
C. S. Lewis: A Life
by Alister McGrath
from Tyndale House
for 10th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$24.99
Cabin Boy to Advent Crusader
by Virgil Robinson, illustrated by Harry Baerg
from Southern Publishing Association
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Calvin and the Calvinists
by Paul Helm
from Banner of Truth Trust
Biography for Adult
in Clearance: Biographies (Location: ZCLE-BIO)
$14.50
Captain Cook R. N. the Resolute Mariner
by Thomas Vaughan and A. A. St. C. M. Murray-Oliver
from Oregon Historical Society Press
Museum Exhibition Catalog for Adult
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$4.00 (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)
Captured!
by Carolyn Paine Miller
1st edition from Christian Herald Books
for Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Carl Sandburg
by Milton Meltzer
from Twenty-first Century Books
for 9th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Carry On, Mr. Bowditch
by Jean Lee Latham, illustrated by John O'Hara Cosgrave II
from Houghton Mifflin
Biography for 5th-9th grade
1956 Newbery Medal winner
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$20.00 (1 in stock)
Carver: A Life in Poems
by Marilyn Nelson
from Boyds Mill Press
for 7th-11th grade
2002 Newbery Honor Book, Coretta Scott King Honor Award
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$16.95
Carver: A Life In Poems
by Marilyn Nelson
1st edition from Scholastic Inc.
for 6th-10th grade
2002 Newbery Honor Book
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Charles A. Lindbergh
by James Cross Giblin
from Clarion Books
Biography for 5th-8th grade
1998 NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor Book
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Charles Darwin's Around-the-World Adventure
by Jennifer Thermes
from Abrams Books for Young Readers
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Charles Dickens and the Street Children of London
by Andrea Warren
from Houghton Mifflin
for 4th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Cheer the Lonesome Traveller
by Leslie Alexander Lacy, illustrated by James Barkley
from Dial Press
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Child in the Forest
by Winifred Foley; illustrated by Tricia Newell
from Holt, Rinehart and Winston
for 6th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Children of the Northlights
by Edgar Parin d'Aulaire, Ingri d'Aulaire
Reprint from University of Minnesota
for Preschool-4th grade
in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER)
$16.95
Choices, Changes
by Joni Eareckson Tada
from Zondervan
Biography for Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Chooch Helped
by Andrea L. Rogers, illustrated by Rebecca Lee Kunz
from Levine Querido
for Preschool-2nd grade
2025 Caldecott Medalist, American Indian Youth Literature Award
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$19.99
Choosing Brave
by Angela Joy, illustrated by Janelle Washington
from Roaring Brook Press
for 1st-4th grade
2023 Robert F. Sibert Honor Book
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$19.99
Chopin
by George Ruttkay
from Hyperion Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
Chord of Steel
by Thomas B. Costain
from Doubleday & Company
for 8th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Christopher Columbus
by Elaine Murray Stone
500 Anv from Tyndale House
Biography for Preschool-3rd Grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.50 (1 in stock)
Christopher Columbus
Sowers Biographies
by Bennie Rhodes
from Mott Media
for 4th-6th grade
in Sowers Biographies (Location: BIO-SOW)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Christopher Columbus and His Brothers
by Amy Hogeboom
from Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Church History ABCs
by Ned Bustard, Stephen J. Nichols
from Crossway Books
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Church History for Kids (Location: XCH-KID)
$16.99 $9.00 (1 in stock)
Churchill: The Greatest Briton
by Christopher Catherwood
from Andre Deutsch
for Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Citizen Tom Paine
by Howard Fast
from Duell, Sloan and Pearce
for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Clara Barton: Amazing Civil War Nurse
Amazing Americans
by Mary Dodson Wade
from Enslow
for 1st-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Clive Staples Lewis
by William Griffin
from Harper & Row
for 10th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Colonial Governor
by J.G.E. Hopkins, illustrated by William Wilson
from P.J. Kenedy & Sons
for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Columbus: The Triumphant Failure
by Oliver Postgate & Naomi Linnell
from Franklin Watts
for 2nd-5th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Comes the Comrade!
by Alexandra Orme, translated from the Polish by M.A. Michael and L. Meyer
from William Morrow & Company
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Completion of C. S. Lewis
by Harry Lee Poe
from Crossway Books
for 10th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$34.99
Confessions of St. Augustine
by St. Augustine (translation by Philip Burton)
from Everyman's Library
for 10th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$17.60
Cornelius Van Til
by John Frame
from P&R Publishing
for 11th-Adult
in Reformed Theology (Location: XTH-REF)
$20.00 (1 in stock)
Corrie Ten Boom: Shining in the Darkness
Heroes for Young Readers
by Renee Meloche
from YWAM Publishing
Biography for 2nd-4th grade
in Heroes for Young Readers (Location: BIO-HERO)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Created for Purpose
by Ron Post
from Coffee House Press
Biography for 11th-Adult
in Clearance: History & Geography (Location: ZCLE-HIS)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Cross Creek
by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
from Charles Scribner's Sons
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Cry of the Kalahari
by Mark and Delia Owens
from Houghton Mifflin
for Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
D'Aulaires' Book of Animals
by Edgar Parin d'Aulaire, Ingri d'Aulaire
from New York Review of Books
for Preschool-4th grade
in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER)
$24.95
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