Amazing Grace: William Wilberforce and the Heroic Campaign to End Slavery Author: Visit Amazon's Eric Metaxas Page | Language: English | ISBN:
0061173886 | Format: EPUB
Amazing Grace: William Wilberforce and the Heroic Campaign to End Slavery Description
Review
“A fine and important book.” (Chicago Sun-Times)
“The little-known story of the lifelong struggle of a member of Parliament to abolish slavery in the British Empire.” (USA Today)
From the Back Cover
Amazing Grace is the biography of William Wilberforce, a British statesman and reformer from the early part of the 19th century. It chronicles his extraordinary contributions to the world, primarily his 20-year fight to abolish the British slave trade, which he won in 1807. He was also instrumental in passing legislation to abolish slavery in the British colonies, a victory he won just three days before his death in 1833. He was a hero to Abraham Lincoln and an inspiration to the anti-slavery movement in America. America needs to become reacquainted with this moral hero.
This biography of one of the foremost abolitionists of Britain’s anti-slavery movement is the official tie-in book to the film Amazing Grace by Walden Media. The hardcover edition spent four weeks on the New York Times bestseller list.
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- Paperback: 320 pages
- Publisher: HarperOne (November 13, 2007)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0061173886
- ISBN-13: 978-0061173882
- Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
- Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Amazing Grace by Eric Metaxas is the New York Times bestseller about the life of William Wilberforce. The subtitle describes the theme: The heroic campaign to end slavery.
I thoroughly enjoyed Mr. Metaxas's book because he so obviously liked and admired his subject. In the epilogue he writes, "I confess that while writing this book I sometimes had the happy sense that Wilberforce was present, or on the verge of it, twinkling with delight at my elbow, wearing that rosebud smile of his, head quizzically cocked."
However, it is Mr. Metaxas's sharp wit and skill with words - not his admiration - that brings Mr. Wilberforce to life and illuminates the dark underbelly of the Georgian era that arose from the unfeeling and unquestioning pursuit of the enlightenment. I sputtered in startled amusement when Mr. Metaxas described the public ox roast that William Wilberforce hosted when he stood for Parliament the first time, an event that had occurred in
"1809 to celebrate to Golden Jubilee of King George III, and another was held in 1887 to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of Victoria. And here now, in Hull in 1780, an ox roast was held to celebrate the twenty-first birthday of the grandson of the late Alderman, the scion of the great Wilberforce family, a tiny, brilliant, and exceedingly ambitious young man who happened to be standing for Parliament in the general election just two weeks away . . . .
It was duly noted that the newly minted twenty-one-year-old had won exactly as many votes as his two opponents combined, which gave him a nice little push as he entered parliament--the ox had not twirled in vain."
Mr. Metaxas writes with empathy as well as with a sharp wit.
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