Customer Reviews

Amazing Grace: William Wilberforce and the Heroic Campaign to End Slavery

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I purchased this book with low expectations, assuming it was a hastily-written biography produced to promote the upcoming Wilberforce film. I was very pleasantly surprised.

The author, Eric Metaxas, has produced a masterpiece worthy of its subject. Metaxas is an eloquent and fluid writer, and he brings to life one of Britain's most gifted and eloquent politicians.

William Wilberforce electrified Parliament in his early years, before he yet had a cause. His silver tongue and quit wit won him many friends, including Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger. Had Wilberforce continued along this path, he might well have succeeded Pitt.

With respect and sensitivity, Metaxas documents a powerful change to Wilberforce. Through a serious and intelligent conversion to Evangelical (Methodist) Christianity, Wilberforce's life was forever altered. His heart was changed ... to God and humanity. He could no longer ignore the sufferings of African slaves, kidnapped and shipped under horrible conditions to a living death in Britain's Caribbean colonies. He brought his faith to bear on politics ... as controversial in his day as in ours.

Metaxas dramatically shows how much Wilberforce suffered for the sake of abolition. He faced powerful and dangerous foes without fear or malice. By the force of his stubborn will, Wilberforce awakened the British conscience. He refused to turn back, despite many bitter setbacks. Returning to Parliament year after year, Wilberforce finally saw the abolition of the slave trade in 1807. Then, mere days before his death, he witnessed Parliament's history-changing vote to outlaw slavery throughout the British colonies.

In this biography Eric Metaxas traces William Wilberforce's roots, schooling, friends and faith to gain an understanding of what propelled the man to take on and defeat the powerful and politically connected slave traders/merchants of the late 18th century. It is a wonderful look into a period of time where one man leads a groundswell movement that results in an about face in Great Britain's perception of the slave trade, and ultimately slavery itself - a tidal wave that crossed the Atlantic to the U.S.
I would highly recommend "Amazing Grace" to anyone, not just for it's historical significance, but for those with a mind to effect change in their own community.

Eric Metaxas provides the story behind the movie "Amazing Grace." Whereas the movie somewhat down-plays Wilberforce's Christianity, Metaxes' book clearly hightlights Wilberforce's faith in Christ as the primary motivator for his campaign for the end of slavery.

Metaxas vividly portrays the real and raw experiences that Wilberforce endured including intense opposition. Readers see in Wilberforce, as the subtitle suggests, a heroic and resilient Christian whose faith impacted not only his life, but the lives of millions.

It was Wilberforce's freedom from the slavery of sin that led him to fight for freedom from the sin of slavery. Read "Amazing Grace" and learn the rest of the story.

Rewiever: Bob Kellemen is the author of Beyond the Suffering: Embracing the Legacy of African American Soul Care and Spiritual Direction , Spiritual Friends, and Soul Physicians.

Because of the movie, there are a couple other Wilberforce books that have come out in the past month, but this one is the best. Really well written, I wasn't expecting such good writing. Not sure what I was expecting, but this book was excellent.

After seeing the movie, Amazing Grace, our 12 year old daughter chose William Wilberforce as a school Language Arts project. When she submitted her "topic" to her teacher, the teacher said, "I have no idea who he is." Admittedly, before the movie, we, too, had never heard of him. Whereas the movie skims over this man's life, this book allows you to get to know him, as a man and as a public figure. You will know his weaknesses and his strengths. You will learn that he championed many other causes which helped usher in the Victorian Age in England. He was at the center of the campaign to abolish slavery in the British Kingdom. His abilities as an orator kept the abolisment of slavery at the forefront of Parliament for decades. He did not do it alone and this book does not insinuate that he did. This book, "Amazing Grace", is about William Wilberforce and it is well done.

I would not recommend it for 6th, 7th, or 8th graders. Some of the material on slavery was very rough, but necessary. We had to edit the book and cross out sections which she shouldn't read.

I think all adults should read this book. William Wilberforce's life is inspiring, to say the least.

There are Histories, there are Biographies, and there are Stories Worth Telling, and happily, this book sits well in the latter category. This was my introduction to the life and times of William Wilberforce, one of the "founding fathers" of human rights, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Metaxas' book is both less and more than a work of scholarship, and both in good ways. He has a keen sense of the historical significance of the era and also its intriguing details (the practice of "bull-baiting" was new to me), and has a storyteller's instinct for providing context that is illuminative but not exhaustive, like his treatment of the French Revolution. Metaxas does lend a lively wit into the telling, but it feels genuinely appropriate to his subject, as if there was an actual kinship there. His inferences as to the inner workings of Wilberforce's mind are graceful and understated, and are never attempts to tart up the story with gratuitous dramatic flourishes, as is the temptation in historical writing.

So this is not an all-encompassing "warts-n'-all" portrait of a man, but neither is it some pedantic exercise in hagiography. In fact, it could be said that this isn't even really a book about Wilberforce. He is merely the main character in a story which is not just astounding but astoundingly true, and which has implications as profound for our era as they were in the 18th century. Maybe the best compliment you could give a book is to say, paradoxically, that it does NOT make me want to read it again, but instead has sparked my interest in reading more about its subject, and this book has done that.

I chose this book to learn more about the life of William Wilberforce on the strength of the other reviews on this page. My greatest hope was that this would not be a hagiography. I wanted a fair picture of the man, "warts" and all. I was not disappointed.

I was pleasantly surprised by the real craftsmanship that Eric Metaxas has with the English language. I have not read such a well-written book in years. For instance, the metaphors that Metaxas uses throughout the book are both entertaining and enlightening.

This is not only a great biography, it's a great "read".

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. Without understanding the oppressiveness of the Georgian society, one cannot understand William Wilberforce's achievement. After describing the "cruelty, vulgarity, and hopelessness" of the poor, Mr. Metaxas describes "prostitution, which was so rampant one can scarcely imagine it. No less than 25 percent of all unmarried women in London were prostitutes. There were brothels that exclusively offered the services of girls under fourteen, and the average age of a prostitute in London during those years was sixteen."

And Mr. Wilberforce persevered and overcame, becoming the voice of conscience for his society.

Mr. Metaxas is at his best when he describes the life of William Wilberforce--his upbringing and early life that planted the seeds of his later life, but nearly caused him to turn his back on his great calling--his friendships, his marriage, and the effects of the multitude of setbacks on Mr. Wilberforce. Though absorbing, the text becomes drier when Mr. Metaxas focuses on the issues themselves, particularly the slave trade, rather than on the person of Mr. Wilberforce as he participated in those issues.

The Faith Discussion Guide at the end of the text is particularly welcome. The study of the great actions of a humble man may edify, but the application of the principles of those actions can change our lives, the lives of those around us, and our society--if we allow it.

William Wilberforce did more than end slavery, he changed Western Civilization. He created the campaign button, used today to elect mere politicians, but he did it to end slavery and bring Christianity to India. He also helped recreate non-governmental organizations for schools, and widows and orphans of war and poverty. He helped change the penal code of Great Britain and bring back the use of morality to effect change for how small crimes corrupted society. (Note, this was the same tactics used by Giuliani to change the crime rate in New York.) Wilber ( his nickname among friends) was a short sickly man, gifted with a a superb speaking voice, great charisma, and the ability to be a great Christian leader without looking like a "stick in the mud" Puritan. He also had a strong backbone that allowed him to let insults, death threats, and 40 years of frustration slide by the way side. One day I hope to read his sons' 3 volume biography of his life, but in the mean time, you can't go wrong reading this well written and entertaining biography of his life.

Though the name "William Wilberforce" is hardly at the tips of our collective tongues anymore, author Eric Metaxas thinks it should be. In "Amazing Grace," Metaxas relates the story of Wilberforce -- a slight, stooped and sickly man -- whose physical frailty disguised a great strength of character and soul. Wilberforce, as a member of the British Parliament, was (at least according to Metaxas's telling) the driving force behind both the end of the slave trade in the British colonies in 1807 as well as the abolition of British slavery itself in 1833.
The book covers all of Wilberforce's life, from the controversies between Anglicanism and Methodism of his boyhood, through his indolent college days, to his conversion in 1785 at age 24, to his parliamentary career and his death in 1833. Metaxas tells a rousing story of a young man in search for meaning and relevance, in an age of barbarity toward animals, criminals and "lower" races that is shocking to the modern ear. Metaxas sets the stage by discussing animal cruelty -- bull, horse and bear-beating -- that were popular pastimes of the era. His catalog of the evil done to black slaves is chronicled by those who had first-hand familiarity with the infamous Middle Passage or the treatment of slaves on the sugar plantations of the West Indies. Wilberforce's voice is heard through excerpts from his personal diaries, bringing this now-obscure person to life.

I truly enjoyed the book, though with a few reservations. Metaxas's Wilberforce is a man whose worldview would be recognizable to moderns. As a man born of a racist and vicious era, he used his religious views in ways that ran counter to his society. He took seriously the scriptural dictum that humanity is created in God's image, resulting in the inevitable conclusion that people of color deserved the same treatment as whites. A sickly man, he showed great compassion for the poor and the weak, even extending this soft heartedness to animals. Among many other works, Wilberforce was a founding member of the then-named Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

The reservations. Metaxas's style is usually staid, punctuated with the occassional tic -- he suddenly gets overly-cute or uses faux-Elizabethan anachronistic turns of phrase. He also tends to give Wilberforce solitary credit for opposing slavery, when this work started long before he appeared on the scene and ended after he left it. Metaxas's evidently sympathetic view of Wilberforce's spiritual life was another problem. In many passages, Metaxas presumes a conservative Christian worldview, lauding Wilberforce for making decisions that are in line with God's will, as though this was self-evident to the reader. Metaxas clearly roots for young Wilberforce to find God, and he speaks from with seeming familiarity with a convert's stages of maturation through during his conversion experience. There's nothing wrong with religious experience, but I found this overt tilt surprising and a bit troubling in a biography. Appallingly, Metaxas describes Anglicanism as a religion practiced in name only by bishops and clergy who no longer believed in its tenets. Metaxas even notes which bishops of the period are "orthodox," as though the reader understands and agrees to his meaning of the word. Metaxas may also be guilty of painting Wilberforce in too-bright colors. His subject's distrust of Roman Catholicism is minimized and his opposition to the right of labor to organize is left unmentioned. Wilberforce is sometimes portrayed as the most eloquent of speakers and other times as having a rather rambling and disconnected style. These inconsistencies and biases diminished the book's impact.

Nevertheless, I do recommend "Amazing Grace". In an age in which the wounds of racism and cruelty are still borne by too many, it is encouraging to read of a man who, though borne to wealth and privilege, put his faith into practice in a way that benefited so many and is still admirable today. "Amazing Grace" makes the strong case that William Wilberforce ought to merit at least a mention when the roll of the history's great humanitarians is read.