Description
John Newton is best known as the author of Amazing Grace but this brilliant new biography shows how he led one of the most colourful and influential lives of the 18th century.Using a wealth of unpublished material, Jonathan Aitken charts Newton's journey through slave trading, best selling authorship, ordination, church leadership, abolitionist campaigning and the spiritual mentoring of William Wilberforce and William Cowper.
From Newton's rip-roaring adventures on the high seas to his emergence as a pivotal figure in the abolitionist and evangelical movements this is a life of amazing achievement as well as of Amazing Grace.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
1 A Spiritual Upbringing
2 First Steps in Love and Seafaring
3 Press-ganged
4 Flogged and Degraded
5 Exchanged
6 Enslaved in Africa
7 Rescued by the Greyhound
8 Troublemaker and Blasphemer
9 In the Shadow of Death
10 False Dawns, More Storms and a Safe Landing
11 Londonderry, Love and a Liverpool Shipowner
12 Adventures on the Brownlow
13 Struggles of Books, Body and Soul
14 Marriage to Polly
15 Captain of the Duke of Argyle
16 First Voyage of the African
17 The End of a Seafaring Career
18 Unemployment, Inspiration and Prayer
19 Methodism and Materialism
20 Life in Liverpool
Author(s)
Jonathan Aitken, Jonathan Aitken, a former MP and cabinet minister, is the author of nine books including his award-winning biography of President Richard Nixon. His recent titles published by Continuum include Pride and Perjury, Psalms for People under Pressure, Prayers for People under Pressure, Charles W. Colson: A Life Redeemed and Heroes and Contemporaries.
Reviews
"Using diaries and correspondence, this biography crosses the boundaries of history and religion."
The Bookseller,
"This fascinating and gripping book makes the life of John Newton come alive for the contemporary reader. There's no hedging on Newton's depravity, nor his utterly passionate devotion to his precious Savior. I highly recommend this excellent work it's one that will transform not only minds but hearts!"
Joni Eareckson Tada,
"Skilled and colorful biographer that he is, my friend Jonathan Aitken has brought to life one of eighteeneth-century England's most influential Christians.
Chuck Colson,
"Master biographer Jonathan Aitken is in fine form, sympathetic, insightful, scholarly and vivid, and his book, like its subject, must be rated unobtrusively spectacular"
J.I. Packer,
"A rip-roaring adventure, a passionate romance, and astonishing journey of faith all in one"
Os Guiness,
"A fresh, insightful, and inspiring account of this great yet neglected figure. With that rare skill of a superb biographer, Aitken brings Newton to life for a new generation of admirers"
Alister McGrath,
"The book captures superbly how one life can be transformed by God for the benefit of others"
Tricia Neill, President Alpha International,
"Jonathan Aitken has written a book that, enriched by fresh research into unpublished papers, will enhance his reputation as one of today's foremost biographers.Secular and religious readers will alike profit enormously from this book"
Rev.Dr. Michael Green,
"Jonathan Aitken as always writes with elegance, clarity, and sympathy in describing an extraordinary eighteeneth-century life"
Graham Tomlin, Principal,St Paul's Theological Centre, Holy Trinity Brompton, London,
"Jonathan Aitken brings to life one of the unsung heroes of the Evangelical Revival"
Richard Turnbull., Principal, Wycliffe Hall, Oxford ,
"Aitken is well-qualified to serve an account of Newton for the modern reader. He is a renowned writer and biographer, a former businessman and politician, and, like Newton, a man whose heart has been changed through amazing grace."
Ken Costa, Chairman of Alpha International, Vice-Chairman of USB Investment Bank,
"a thorough study, superbly written, and an excellent read"
Keswick Convention Handbook,
'This is an 'amazing' book which tells the story of an 'amazing' Christian life...This is a book to inspire and challenge us as to the true nature of Amazing Grace'
Christianity, October 2007
Wendy Bray,
"A brilliantly written biography ... Like all good biographers, Jonathan Aitken leaves us with the imprint of the subject firmly in our minds rather than the image of the author, but the engaging style of his narrative displays a personal commitment not only to the subject but also to his reason for living."
Paul Woolley, The Difference
Paul Woolley, The Difference,
"Mr Aitken's biography... provides a rare spiritual treat and leads us to praise God for His mercy in the reality and wonder of salvation"
Gordon Murray, Protestant Truth, September - October 2007
Gordan Murray - Protestant Truth,
"meticulously researched...[Aiken] writes beautifully and accessibly."
Reviewed in Christianity, 2008
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"Here is a useful account of a great figure of the Evangelical Revival" - Times Literary Supplement
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"Well before the end, I was conscious that I was reading another classic ... Aitken writes with real passion for his subject ... This is a book to inform your mind, warm your heart and inspire your Christian walk. I cannot recommend it more highly." - Evangelical Times
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