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About the Book

Amazing Grace tells the story of the remarkable life of the British abolitionist William Wilberforce (1759-1833). This accessible biography chronicles Wilberforce’s extraordinary role as a human rights activist, cultural reformer, and member of Parliament. At the center of  his heroic life was a passionate twenty-year fight to abolish the British slave trade, a battle he won in 1807, as well as efforts to abolish slavery itself in the British colonies, a victory achieved just three days before his death in 1833.

Metaxas discovers in this unsung hero a man of whom it can truly be said: he changed the world. Before Wilberforce, few thought slavery was wrong. After Wilberforce, most societies in the world came to see it as a great moral wrong. To mark the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the British slave trade, HarperSanFrancisco and Bristol Bay Productions have joined together to commemorate the life of William Wilberforce with the feature-length film Amazing Grace and this companion biography, which provides a fuller account of the amazing life of this great man than can be captured on film.

This account of Wilberforce’s life will help many become acquainted with an exceptional man who was a hero to Abraham Lincoln and an inspiration to the anti-slavery movement in America.

“This is unquestionably the best biography I have ever read!”

S. Michael Craven, President, Center for Christ and Culture

“Better than the movie!”

Former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani

“Bravo! Metaxas’s story reads like fiction! A masterful reintroduction to Wilberforce for our generation.”

David S. Kidder, Creator/Co-Author NYTimes Bestseller The Intellectual Devotional

“…a superb introduction to history’s greatest and most surprising social reformer. It will jolt the cynical and inspire the visionary.”

Os Guinness, author The Call

“Metaxas’s book, well researched and written in a lively and sparkling style, will stir your heart.”

George Gallup, Jr.

“[M]agnificent! Metaxas’s work will stand as a living landmark.”

The Rev. Floyd Flake, President, Wilberforce University, Former U.S. Congressman (NY)

“If Wilberforce is your hero, as he is mine, this is the book for you.”

J.C. Watts, Jr., Former U.S. congressman (OK)

“Crackles with verve, intelligence, wit and insight.”

Dick Staub, broadcaster and author

“…a superb history of the British campaign against slavery.”

Stanley Crouch, NY Daily News

“[Metaxas] is an irresistible writer. ‘A crackling bonfire of truth and clarity’… [told] with such a sharp eye and ready wit and moral passion that we are caught up in the momentum of it and blown away…”

John Wilson, BOOKS&CULTURE

“A superb, scholarly “must-read” book!”

Baroness Caroline Cox, House of Lords

“Metaxas tells the tale of Wilberforce with great energy, sympathy, clarity, and aplomb.”

Thomas Howard, author Dove Descending: a journey into T.S. Eliot’s “Four Quartets”

“Spectacular!”

The Christian Century

“This may be the definitive book about Wilberforce. There are some that may be more detailed, but none which are so well-written, so engaging, so fabulously inspiring.”

Byron Borger, BookNotes

“I have not been able to put it down. It totally captivated me. Not only is it beautifully written, but the story is truly “an amazing grace”. It is a book I treasure and will share with my friends.”

Dr. Alice von Hildebrand, author, The Soul of a Lion

“Fluidly told… a compelling example of faith that leads not to meditation only, but to reflection.”

First Things