Fierce Convictions: the Extraordinary Life of Hannah More Poet, Reformer, Abolitionist

Publisher Marketing: With a foreword by Eric Metaxas, bestselling author of "Bonhoeffer" and "Amazing Grace" The enthralling biography of the woman writer who helped end the slave trade, changed Britain's upper classes, and taught a nation how to read. The history-changing reforms of Hannah More affected every level of 18th-century British society. A woman without connections or status, More took the world of British letters by storm when she arrived in London from Bristol, becoming a bestselling author and playwright and quickly befriending the author Samuel Johnson, the politician Horace Walpole, and the actor David Garrick. She was also a leader in the Evangelical movement, using her cultural position and her pen to support the growth of education for the poor, the reform of morals and manners, and the abolition of Britain's slave trade. "Fierce Convictions" weaves together world and personal history into a stirring story of a life that intersected with Wesley and Whitefield's Great Awakening, the rise of Evangelicalism, and convulsive effects of the French Revolution. A woman of exceptional intellectual gifts and literary talent, Hannah More was above all a person whose faith compelled her both to engage her culture and to transform it. Review Citations: Booklist 11/15/2014 pg. 11 (EAN 9781400206254, Hardcover) CBA Retailers 12/01/2014 pg. 25 (EAN 9781400206254, Hardcover) Books & Culture 01/01/2015 pg. 32 (EAN 9781400206254, Hardcover) Contributor Bio:  Prior, Karen Swallow Karen Swallow Prior is professor of English at Liberty University. She is the author of"Booked: Literature in the Soul of Me"and contributes to"Christianity Today, The Atlantic, "and"Relevant"magazine", "among other publications. She lives in Amherst, VA. Contributor Bio:  Gigante, Phil Phil Gigante is an APA Audie Award winner (The Dark Highlander, The Stainless Steel Rat, and The Watch That Ends the Night), and winner of over a dozen Audiofile Magazine Earphones Awards. He has narrated and directed more than 250 books, and was twice named a "Best Voice in Mystery and Suspense" by Audiofile Magazine. He has been named a Best Male Narrator in the categories of Romance, Science Fiction, Militaria, and Mystery/Suspense, as well as "Favorite Dual Narrator" (with Natalie Ross). Phil also works in film, TV and radio, and is the Producer/Director of Gigantic Productions theatre company. He makes his home in the Midwest. Contributor Bio:  Bond, Jim Bond is a producer and host of radio talk shows, with an extensive background in theatre and the musical stage. Contributor Bio:  Stevens, Christine CHRISTINE STEVENS was born in England and moved to South Africa in 1982. She was in the fashion industry for twenty years, travelling the world first as a fashion buyer then a designer. She moved to her organic farm Eikenbosch in 2000 with her husband and two sons, and since then she has been farming organically, making organic wines, cooking and writing about food. Contributor Bio:  Metaxas, Eric Eric Metaxas is the "New York Times" bestselling author of "Amazing Grace: William Wilberforce and the Heroic Campaign to End Slavery" and "Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy". His writing was first published in "Atlantic Monthly", and has appeared in the "New York Times", the "Washington Post", "Regeneration Quarterly", "Christianity Today", "National Review Online", Beliefnet, and "First Things". He has been featured numerous times on CNN, FOX, and other television networks, and has been a guest on NPR. Metaxas serves on the vestry of Calvary/St. George's Episcopal Church, and lives in Manhattan, New York, with his wife and daughter.