Foxe: Voices of the Martyrs [Imitation Leather]

John Foxe (Author), The Voice of the Martyrs (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2007

In 1563 John Foxe had a vision: to record the stories of those who paid the ultimate price for serving Jesus. The fulfillment of that vision ? Foxe's Book of Martyrs ? has been called the second most

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

John Foxe, 1516-1587 The Voice of the Martyrs Organization is located in Bartlesville, Oklahoma.

Product Details

• Imitation Leather: 450 pages
• Publisher: Bridge-Logos Publishers (March 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0882703307
• ISBN-13: 978-0882703305
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 5.9 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #180,977 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, September 10, 2007

By 

Alex P (NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Foxe: Voices of the Martyrs (Imitation Leather)

Voice of the Martyrs has done a great job in compiling all the info for this book. This is great to purchase as an addition to the original classic "Foxe's Book of Martyrs", the main focus of "Voices..." appears to be Christians who were martyred in the past 100 years or so, however they do include info on earlier martyrs as well. The presentation of the book is excellent, the book is a nice hardcover with a leathery cover. I highly recommend for all Christians to pick up a copy, we should never forget all the lives that have been lost, and are continuing to be lost for the cause of Christ.

26 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Read the original version., August 12, 2008

By 

Joel D. Weber (Loveland, CO USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Foxe: Voices of the Martyrs (Imitation Leather)

A most disappointing edition of a truly remarkable classic. I wish I could offer this book 5 stars for demonstrating the life and experiences of past martyrs, and would for most previous editions of this book.
This new edition (voices of the martyrs) held great promise as it included with the original masterpiece an added 200 pages of Christian martyrs from the 20th century. Unfortunately, the true value of these martyrs has been deliberately obscured and I would say cheapened by this book's marketing elements.

Note that I am a great fan of Foxe's (original) Book of Martyrs and would recommend this as an important reading for all Christians - as it offers vivid examples of what living-out Faith can entail, and what standing with Christ against the world will often have for its end (persecution and death).

That being said, while the original book gave each character numerous pages describing their daily life, activities and doctrines which made them targets for persecution. The original book offered a fluid and moving prose, meant to expose without compromise the largest history and smallest details of these martyr's life and ultimate demise. Here you could immerse yourself in their world, feel a neighbor to their daily life and with great empathy have your spirit crushed in anguish as deliberate details were given regarding the methods of violence, torture and death.

As for this new version, the overall effect has been to cheapen the life of these martyrs. This has been accomplished through marketing effects, which I would argue backfired. The cover is an imitation of old book leather (embossed) and smacks of being fake. The pages have a water-stain or ash discoloration - which really only makes the pages look dirty, not ancient. The pictures interspersed throughout are reminiscent of Norman Rockwell drawings and seem both meant for a child's story book and completely at odds with human suffering. The font used, once again is overdone and only looks as a poor imitation of old Gothic letters. The font along with ink fading in and out on the pages simply has the effect of falsity and is far from convincing. Finally, whereas the original copy gave many pages of the martyr's life and final days/hours - this new version gives such short snippets on our 2oth century martyrs as to almost provide you with a newspaper headline and following sentence. Gone are the details and depth, and gone is any opportunity to empathize, to feel any sort of kinship. This, is a disgrace to their lives and the worst possible epitaph. What is offered here is a 1 or 2 paragraph summary, devoid of valuable details, lacking the historical and cultural backdrops and clinically sterile.

I feel a great shame placed upon the 20th century martyrs in this book's format, and instead of giving them their due place of honor, each is trimmed down to fit our limited attention-span, and in the process, deeply cheated of their true value!

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Focus on Recent Events, May 14, 2008

By 

Joel S. Frady (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Foxe: Voices of the Martyrs (Imitation Leather)

This edition of Foxe's Book of Martyrs is a good update of the classic. The book has an attractive (if a bit excessive) binding and contains several good illustrations. The typeface is easy to read. The book is a bit bulky and has a very odd tall and narrow shape.

In terms of content, this edition is particularly helpful for its emphasis on the persecution of recent years. The well-known martyrs of history are included as well but what I found most interesting about the book were the accounts from the last few years. The accounts from 2000 forward cover a full 200 pages in the 475 page book. This book brings home the fact that religious persecution is very much alive in our world and that martyrtdom has been and continues to be a real possibility for Christians in many parts of the world.