Title: Christian Heroes: Then and Now Series
Author: Janet & Geoff Benge
Major Themes: Biographies, Missionaries
Synopsis: A series of biographies of famous men and women God has used, from 1700 to the present.
I first ran across the Christian Heroes: Then and Now series biographies some 15 years ago, when I ran a small bookstore. By the time I sold the bookstore, I had probably 20 of the (now) 42 titles in stock, and had read them all. As most of you know, a series tends to decline in quality after the first few books, but this series has not as far as I’m concerned. The latest ones I read were just as gripping as the earliest. They seem to present the facts quite accurately, as well. I’ve read various books about a number of the people covered in these books, and what I’ve read by the Benges lines up with what I read elsewhere.
We finished reading one of these books together this afternoon, the third or fourth in a few months, and my 9-year-old begged me to buy the whole series and read it to them! This is a child who never wanted stories read to him as a preschooler, and has been a reluctant listener for years. He will hang around and listen to stories at times now, but it has to be pretty gripping for him to really want to hear it. That sounded like pretty high praise to me, coming from him! I also bought a couple of the books in mp3 format for my non-readers to listen to, and this particular child told me, in detail, about Adoniram Judson’s life as they listened to that one. I wish we could afford the entire set; I believe they would be a very worthwhile investment and I highly recommend them to any family.
I’ve also just discovered this page of resources to go along with the series if you use them for schooling.
Books in this series we’ve reviewed:
- Mary Slessor: Forward into Calabar
- David Livingstone: Africa’s Trailblazer
- Cameron Townsend: Good News in Every Language
- Dietrich Bonhoeffer: In the Midst of Wickedness
- Amy Carmichael: Rescuer of Precious Gems
- Adoniram Judson: Bound for Burma
- Florence Young: Mission Accomplished
- William Booth: Soup, Soap, and Salvation
- Wilfred Grenfell: Fisher of Men
- Gladys Aylward: The Adventure of a Lifetime
- Sundar Singh: Footprints Over the Mountains
- Loren Cunningham: Into All the World
- Klaus-Dieter John: Hope in the Land of the Incas
- Jacob DeShazer: Forgive Your Enemies
- Paul Brand: Helping Hands
- Lottie Moon: Giving Her All for China
- Brother Andrew: God’s Secret Agent
WARNING: See the page for the individual reviews I have done; I can’t say for the books I haven’t personally read.
Age levels:
Listening Level—Ages 5 – 8, 8 – 12, 10 – 12, Family Friendly
Reading Independently—Ages 8 – 12, 10 – 12, 12 – 15, 15 and Above, Adults
Links to buy this book:
To buy the individual books, go to the specific review of the title you want.
Amazon: If you wish to buy these books in bulk, there are “gift sets” available, 5 books per set, all paperback versions: Books 01 – 05 | Books 06 – 10 | Books 11 – 15 | Books 16 – 20 | Books 21 – 25 | Books 26 – 30 | Books 31 – 35 | Books 36 – 40
I would like to buy the series. Is that possible?
I don’t think it’s possible to buy all the books at once—likely not new anymore, anyway—but I’ve updated the links here to include the box sets that are available. Hope that’s helpful! 🙂