Great Souls [MP3 Audio] [Audio CD]

David Aikman (Author, Narrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 2001

David Aikman profiles six extraordinary people who have changed the century by modeling essential, undeniable virtues. With amazing insight, respected journalist David Aikman examines the lives of Mother Theresa, Nelson Mandela, Billy Graham, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Pope John Paul II and Elie Wiesel in this book about greatness for a generation without heroes.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

What defines a great soul? Aikman attempts to explore this in an interesting series of biographies. Here he chronicles the lives of Billy Graham, Nelson Mandela, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Pope John Paul II, Elie Wiesel, and Mother Teresa, providing positive stories as well as negative experiences and problems in detail. Aikman is a Christian, and he often refers to the religious faith of these history-makers and how it affected their lives and their responses in times of trial and trouble. He is a fine narrator, but one would prefer that he omit the accents of his subjects when he is reading quotes attributed to them. Except for that minor quibble, this audiotape will find a home in most public libraries. Danna Bell-Russel, Library of Congress
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Blackstone Audiobooks; MP3 edition (January 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 078619412X
• ISBN-13: 978-0786194124
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,532,753 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Dr. David Aikman is an award-winning print and broadcast journalist, a best-selling author, and a foreign affairs commentator based in the Washington, D.C. area. His wide-ranging professional achievements include a 23-year career at Time magazine, serving for several years as bureau chief in Eastern Europe, Beijing, and Jerusalem. His reporting has spanned the globe and he has covered all the major historical events of the time.

Dr. Aikman was educated at Oxford University and holds a PhD from the University of Washington in Russian and Chinese history. He is the author of many books, including Jesus in Beijing: How Christianity Is Transforming China and Changing the World Balance of Power; Billy Graham: His Life and Influence; Qi (Awaken the Dragon); and A Man of Faith: The Spiritual Journey of George W. Bush. He is professor of history and writer in residence at Patrick Henry College. He is married and lives near Lincoln, Virginia

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Biographies of Six Spiritual Leaders, February 14, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Davis, California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Great Souls: Six Who Changed the Century (Hardcover)

Great Souls: Six Who Changed the Century is undoubtedly one of the best collections of biographies I have read in years. In an era where celebrities are designated "heroes" and fifty or so men in New Orleans are called "Saints", it is refreshing - no it's inspiring - to read about five men and a woman whose attitudes and actions had a profound and positive effect on this century. David Aikman, a talented foreign correspondent for Time Magazine turned writer, has done a superb job capturing, in a few pages, the extraordinary lives and accomplishments of Billy Graham, Mother Teresa, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Pope John Paul II, Elie Wiesel and Nelson Mandela. If you are looking for perfect people, you won't find them in Aikman's book. What you will find, however, are six individuals who again and again, rose above their times and circumstances to change, if only for a brief time, the course of human events. Aikman's astute observations into the worldly and spiritual lives of these great souls hold important lessons for all of us today. Mother Teresa's inexhaustible compassion for the poorest of the poor, Nelson Mandela's amazing capacity to forgive, Billy Graham's urgent quest for salvation for the human soul, Solzhenitsyn's implacable pursuit of the truth, Pope John Paul's passion for human dignity and Eli Wiesel's constant reminders of the profound wickedness that lurks in the hearts of men, these are some of the lessons in store for those who read this enjoyable and inspirational book. Perhaps the best chapter is the last. Here Aikman uses Eli Wiesel's compelling and tragic story to inquire into the nature of evil. Was Adolph Hitler a charismatic but misguided despot or Satan incarnate? Was the Holocaust "a mutation on a cosmic scale" or "merely the natural shoots watered by Europe's longtime subterranean lake of anti-Semitism"? As we move from this millennium to the next, hopefully the brilliant lights of these great souls will illuminate the answers to these questions and be a lamp unto the uncertain path that lies before us.

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I'm biased, but this is great., August 28, 2002

By 

P. Hamm "p-squared" (Western Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Great Souls: Six Who Changed the Century (Hardcover)

It was truly wonderful to read David's biographies of these great souls. There is quite a warts-and-all documentary style to this, but I really felt that I got into the lives of the people. For instance, I felt like I got a better picture of Billy Graham from the one chapter on him here than I did from the whole of Graham's autobiography.

Full disclosure: I know David a little, we go to church together. But it's STILL a great book. I hope you can still find it around.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A word of gratitude to the author., September 20, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Great Souls: Six Who Changed the Century (Hardcover)

I really want to thank Mr. Aikman for this book. It illustrates the way a pure soul can be used by God to accomplish things beyond anyone's expectations. The author masterfully weaves anecdotes, interviews and biographical information to connect us in a unique way to these great people. I came away inspired to try and carry away remnants of each of these wonderful people. Thank you for such a masterful work. It is profound in so many ways.