It was in the fourth or fifth grade that I first read a historical biography of my own choosing. While I don’t remember the title or author, I know it was about the Battle of Iwo Jima in World War II. It wasn’t until I got out of college, though, that I became a serious reader.
Now, for anyone turned off by the notion of regular reading, it may be of interest to know that I am actually a slow reader. I suspect that I had, and have, an undiagnosed but mild level of dyslexia. Getting words and numbers mixed up in my head is probably why I was such a poor reader in elementary school. I hated reading and would always shrink whenever asked to read out loud in public. Memories of tensing up with fear at being called to read in Sunday School are plenty. So the joy of reading has been a process for me. Today, I am a voracious reader, and the practice is constantly sharpening me in multiple ways.
I’ve noted many times, when talking with men and even with women, that one way we can initiate some mentoring in our own lives is by reading the biographies of those who have gone before us. Today, I want to do that again. Specifically, I want to challenge you to pick up and read biographies of men who lived generations before us. Seriously immersing ourselves in the life and lessons of those who have gone before us can move us forward in our day.
None of these men was perfect. Even those of noble character that we aspire to be like had their own faults and chinks in their armor. I get that. But in our day, with so many regularly trumpeting the faults and failings of others, there is a need to remember the points of light in those who have gotten it right, even if not perfectly. We need to see those successes in the lives of men who have walked before us to strengthen our own resolve to press the ball downfield when life gets tough today.
As a starting point, I’ve listed some biographies from my personal library. My challenge? Choose one from the list below or one of your own search from another source. Turn off the media a few nights a week, sit with a physical book in your hand, give it a read, and see if the process might help you rethink some areas in your own life today. Another option is listening to an Audible version of a book if your job keeps you on the road.
If you are an avid reader with more and a wider range of volumes in your history than mine, which may not be too hard to do, please include your suggestions in my list below.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer: A Spoke in the Wheel
by Renate Wind
The Candy Bombers: The Untold Story of the Berlin Airlift and America’s Finest Hour
by Andrei Cherny
William Carey
by S Pearce Carey
Churchill: The Prophetic Statesman
by James C. Humes
Churchill: Walking with Destiny
by Andrew Roberts
Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History
by S. C. Gwynne
Running the Race: Eric Liddell – Olympic Champion and Missionary
by John W. Keddie
Through Gates of Splendor – The life story of Jim Elliot
by Elisabeth Elliot
Autobiography of Charles G. Finney: A Lifetime of Evangelical Preaching to Christians Across America, Revealed Paperback
by Charles G. Finney
American Ulysses: A Life of Ulysses S. Grant
by Ronald C. White
Grant and Sherman: The Friendship That Won the Civil War
by Charles Bracelen Flood
The Leadership Secrets of Billy Graham Hardcover – July 19, 2005
by Harold Myra and Marshall Shelley
The Guns of August – World War I. – (Pulitzer Prize-Winning Classic)
by Barbara W. Tuchman
Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln
by Doris Kearns Goodwin
Martin Luther: The Man Who Rediscovered God and Changed the World
by Eric Metaxas
Foxe’s Book of Martyrs – (Updated to the 21st Century)
by John Foxe
Masters of the Air: America’s Bomber Boys Who Fought the Air War Against Nazi Germany
by Donald L. Miller
A Passion for Souls: The Life of D. L. Moody
by Lyle W Dorsett
The Autobiography Of George Muller
Rich Mullins: An Arrow Pointing to Heaven
by James Bryan Smith and forward by Brennan Manning
Napoleon: A Life
by Andrew Roberts
Carry a Big Stick: The Uncommon Heroism of Theodore Roosevelt
by George Grant
St. Patrick of Ireland: A Biography
by Philip Freeman
Spurgeon: A Biography Paperback
by Arnold A Dallimore
Hudson Taylor (Men of Faith) Paperback
by J. Hudson Taylor
The Wars of America
by Robert Leckie
The HBO WWII series, The Pacific, was partially based on this book with Bob Leckie being a main character. I have an original, two volume set and am finishing it now.
His Excellency: George Washington
by Joseph J. Ellis
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