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Picked this book up at the Baptist Theological Colleges yearly book sale hear in Perth WA along with most of my Christian books.

When watching the Simpsons Movie I saw the shorts of the new “Amazing Grace” movie and remembered this book and read it in one sitting. I have watched a documentary on John Newton before but it was done by an old guy and while it was fascinating he was boring.

The book is an easy read and written for younger readers so there is not much written about the horrific details of slave trading that would be in most other books about John Newton.

Brief History of John Newton

His Dad was a sea captain but from the age of 14, was hijacked to be a part of a merchant ship. What followed was a hard life at sea being whipped, betrayed by a slavers wife ( assistant to her husband), left for dead (a few times), contract Jungle fever and himself a slave planting Lime trees. He managed to get his freedom through some fortunate situations and become a sea Captain, one of the best trades in the 1700s was slave trading so he became a Slave Captain.

Through out all his horrors it was obvious God had his hand on him and also with many unnamed slaves helping John Newton it is no coincidence that it was his diary of his life along with Mr Wilberforce that helped end slavery in England and eventually the world.

John Newton also a song writer

My favourite song along with many other Christians would be Amazing Grace and John Newton a man of many talents wrote that with his dear friend William Cowper among many other timeless classics.

What this book covers

This book is fairly short (my version 87 pages) and covers more about his earlier days from being put in the Press Gang until he was rescued from being a slave on the east Coast of Africa. It then glosses over his adventures of being a Slave Ship Captain, retiring from a heart attack and becoming a Minister for God.

I have heard and watched and I am sure many other books exist about his adventures of his later years so I enjoyed reading about his earlier years. I am sure a lot of people would be interested in John Newton when the new movie “Amazing Grace” comes out and this could be a good read for younger readers as its short, safe and I enjoyed it a lot.

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