This book is a collection of ten short biographies on men who have furthered the Christian faith during their lifetime, starting from Athanasius in the late 200’s to Dietrich Bonhoeffer who lost his life during World War II.

Each biography is succinct, reader friendly, and a great way to introduce young learners to the men who gave their lives to the spreading of the gospel. Often, when we study church history, we are unsure as to where to begin or even which individuals or time period will be the best to start in. As this book is a short survey over all church history, I found it a wonderful starting point for further study with each biography ending in a further reading lists both for the generally curious and the adventurous readers.

Even if you do not intend to use this book as a springboard for further study, I found it a helpful way to place certain events and different figures chronologically in my mind as this is how the book is laid out. For the lay-person, names in church history will often be familiar, but understanding where in history they served is not always the easiest to remember or always thoroughly explained. The systematic ordering of this book helped me lay these figures out in my mind to understand the unfolding of God’s plan over time.

Overall, this book was an easy read that both adults and young learners would enjoy. It would even be a great resource for parents as they introduce young children to Christian leaders of the past as each biography is simple and short enough to provide good bedtime reading.

This book is available to purchase from Mound Books.

Sarah Perkins, London City Prresbyterian Church