John Newton: From Disgrace to Amazing Grace

“Jonathan Aitken is one of our outstanding commentators, and he has written a challenging and moving account of a man who contributed so much to the anti-slavery campaign. Aitken is well-qualified to serve an account of Newton for the modern reader. He is a renowned writer and biographer, a former businessman and politician, and, like Newton, a man whose heart has been changed through amazing grace.”

See All

“Jonathan Aitken brings to life one of the unsung heroes of the Evangelical Revival. From his first encounter with God on the Greyhound, to listening to Whitefield and Wesley on the dockside in Liverpool, the writing of ‘Amazing Grace,’ and the quest for ordination, the hand of God shines through Newton’s life. Jonathan Aitken has written a deeply significant and inspirational biography with meticulous care, passion, and a real heart for his subject.”

See All

“After seeing the movie Amazing Grace I was fascinated to learn more about John Newton, who influenced Wilberforce and who wrote the famous hymn. This book is a fascinating look into his life and times. It should be read by anyone who wants to be inspired that God can use the failings in our life and use them for his glory. John Newton’s life influenced the church and western civilization much more than he could have ever anticipated. I highly recommend this book.”

See All

“John Newton is largely known through his hymn turned anthem, ‘Amazing Grace.’ And yet Aitken’s well researched book enlarges our understanding of this unusually talented and complex individual. Perhaps Newton’s finest moment was in urging a young devout parliamentarian named Wilberforce to remain in the world of politics rather than pursue the pulpit as the arena where God could best use his mind and heart. Kudos to Aitken for bringing such timely and instructive revelations to us through the life of John Newton.”

See All

“Jonathan Aitken is a gifted writer, and his biography on John Newton is an outstanding and riveting historical account of the life of this notorious eighteenth-century sinner who was so dramatically saved by God’s grace and befriended the great William Wilberforce. This book should be required reading for any person who loves history, loves the song, and is serious about following Christ. I heartily commend it to you.”

See All

“Jonathan Aitken proves once again his great skills as a biographer with this marvelous book. John Newton is best known as a former slave trader who is the author of the most sung hymn in the world. But as Aitken shows in this illuminating biography, he was so much more than that. This book brings to light sorely neglected dimensions of Newton’s remarkable life, highlighting his work as a pastor, preacher, and social reformer (the chapters on his relationship to William Wilberforce are deeply moving and inspiring). Reading Aitken on Newton reminds us how one consecrated life can literally change the course of history. This is essential reading for all who need such reminders.”

See All

“With unusual clarity and perception, Jonathan Aitken has crafted an accurate and comprehensive portrait of the extraordinary life of John Newton. This well-written account is not only historically faithful but also captures the nuances of the personal and spiritual dynamics of the journey of this remarkable exemplar of the grace of God.”

See All

“John Newton’s story is a classic and powerful story of depravity and redemption. Jonathan Aitken as always writes with elegance, clarity, and sympathy in describing an extraordinary eighteenth-century life.”

See All

“Here is a timely and exceptionally well written biography of one of the great sinners and saints in our Christian legacy. Jonathan Aitken’s readable, yet well researched biography of John Newton tells a powerful story, placing this remarkable man in the fascinating context of his times, his personal history, and his faith in a God who is greater than his sin. Rarely have I been at once as challenged and consoled by any biography.”

See All

“Many years ago I learned that John Newton wrote ‘Amazing Grace.’ Not long ago I watched the movie Amazing Grace and was deeply moved by Albert Finney’s portrayal of Newton, the repentant ex-slave trader. Today I have read John Newton: From Disgrace to Amazing Grace and found it to be the most engaging and edifying biography of my spiritual journey.”

See All

“Award-winning biographer Jonathan Aitken has done it again with his timely account of the life of John Newton, author of the famous hymn, ‘Amazing Grace.’ His careful research provides important new information, and his description of Newton’s influence on hymnody as well as the abolition of slavery makes captivating reading.”

See All

“Jonathan Aitken has written such an intimate account of one of the great saints of God that I can now say I have been mentored by John Newton! This book has informed and inspired me as a pastor.”

See All

“Jonathan Aitken’s fast-paced, well-researched, and detailed book shows why Newton was such an important figure as reformer, adviser to politicians, pastor, and—above all—encourager for the Christian life. This is a book to read, ponder, and read again.”

See All

“This is the long-lost story of a man called by God through the words of others whose lifetime calling was to spread the good news of the gospel. It is also a story of the impact of belief on one’s worldview and how that worldview impelled a lifetime of action as a preacher, as a best-selling author and hymn-writer, and as a spiritual counselor of William Wilberforce in their shared goal of the abolition of the slave trade. What was John Newton’s belief? That he was ‘a great sinner’ saved by God’s ‘Amazing Grace.’”

See All

“Jonathan Aitken has succeeded in providing a full, rich, and inspiring biography of a remarkable Christian leader. Drawing on hitherto unpublished documentation, his picture of John Newton’s childhood and early adult years highlights the radical but gradual and painful transformation in the former slave-ship captain. Disgrace there was in abundance, but God’s amazing grace is vividly portrayed in its super-abundance. Perhaps the most moving aspect is Aitken’s insight into Newton’s personal relationships—with his beloved wife Polly, with William Wilberforce, with parishioners in Olney and London, with the deeply depressive poet William Cowper, and with a large number of younger clergy to whom he gave himself as mentor. God’s Word was Newton’s authority and delight, and God’s grace molded him into a compassionate, gracious, patient, unselfish, and deeply humble leader—a model for our equally needy times.”

See All

“Jonathan Aitken’s biography on John Newton is a thorough, insightful, and inspiring work that rekindles in the modern conscience the life of an extraordinary man. The way Aitken describes the transformation of this flawed yet grace-filled human being will be a source of great encouragement to all who read it.”

See All

“Only a few eighteenth-century people continue to influence modern life more than John Newton. Yet today his story remains largely unknown. Jonathan Aitken’s biography of Newton grips us because its applications to our own present moment are so crucially pertinent. Newton’s dramatic conversion and the fits and starts of his subsequent spiritual development speak powerfully to our present religious scene. And Newton’s embodiment of how individual transformation holds within itself the potential for vast social benefits—lifting entire civilizations—speaks directly to our secular scene. All of us owe Jonathan Aitken a huge debt of gratitude for this thrilling true-life tale. In some ways, the title reflects his own life experience, which makes him uniquely qualified to tell this story. And he does know how to tell a story!”

See All

“A superbly written new biography of one of the most influential people in the eighteenth century. A hardened atheist, slave trader, and himself for some time a slave in Africa, John Newton was converted to a dynamic Christian faith and became not only the author of America’s favorite hymn, ‘Amazing Grace,’ but the mentor of William Wilberforce. Without Newton, Wilberforce would never have achieved the abolition of slavery. Jonathan Aitken has written a book that, enriched by fresh research into unpublished papers, will enhance his reputation as one of today’s foremost biographers. Secular and religious readers will alike profit enormously from this book.”

See All

“Jonathan Aitken’s account of Newton’s life story is so dramatic and inspiring that it reads like a novel. Newton made a significant contribution to both political and spiritual history. This is perhaps most notable through the profound influence that he had on William Wilberforce and the abolition of the slave trade in Britain.”

See All

“Millions have sung ‘Amazing Grace.’ And thanks to Jonathan Aitken, the world now knows its author—John Newton. In this masterfully portrayed biography, John Newton, a brutal slave trader, emerges from the shadows of England’s dark maritime enterprise to confront the most heinous inhumanity of his time. From a life of callous cruelty to a champion of compassion, he counsels, challenges, and inspires the political leadership of his day to bring to an end the shameful practice of slavery. In careful and colorful detail, Aitken resurrects this nearly forgotten giant of the faith and establishes Newton in his rightful place as one who has altered the course of western history.”

See All

“This is an informed, authoritative biography of the man who played a critical role in helping William Wilberforce abolish the slave trade. As the composer of the most popular spiritual song in the history of American music, his life story is absolutely spell-binding. I could not put the book down.”

See All

“John Newton is well-known to many as the slaver turned preacher turned abolitionist. Jonathan Aitken’s book tells the story behind the man. It is filled with touching and humanizing details. Aitken has also done his homework. He has plowed through thousands of pages of his most prolific subject’s books, letters, and sermons, all in order to know the man as he really was. This book is a page-turner, and I, for one, was caught off guard by the interest generated on every page. Four stars!”

See All

“Jonathan Aitken’s personal journey of faith—and his brilliance as a writer— makes him the ideal person to write this biography of John Newton. The book captures superbly how one life can be transformed by God for the benefit of thousands of others.”

See All

“Grace is always amazing—that’s what makes it grace—but in the case of John Newton it is also astonishing. Only God could take a vile slave trader and turn him into a useful instrument in abol- ishing the slave trade and igniting a gospel revival, the flames of which are burning still. The story of Newton’s life is compelling and inspires all who seek to follow the path of Jesus today.”

See All

“John Newton not only wrote one of the greatest hymns of all time—he lived one of the greatest stories of salvation. A wonderful book.”

See All

“A fresh, insightful, and inspiring account of this great yet neglected figure. With that rare skill of a superb biographer, Aitken brings Newton to life for a new generation of admirers.”

See All

“A rip-roaring adventure, a passionate romance, and an astonishing journey of faith all in one. But as if that were not enough, Aitken’s superb new biography is also chock-full of extraordinary insights into friendship, prayer, networking, spiritual growth, providence, and above all ‘amazing grace’ and a life of gratitude. I knew the story well, but this telling made a deep impression on me.”

See All

“A new life of John Newton is a fitting celebration of the bicentennial both of Newton’s death and of the abolition of the slave trade, Wilberforce’s triumph in which Newton played a key role. Master biographer Jonathan Aitken is in fine form, sympathetic, insightful, scholarly and vivid, and his book, like its subject, must be rated unobtrusively spectacular.”

See All

“Skilled and colorful biographer that he is, my friend Jonathan Aitken has brought to life one of eighteenth-century England’s most influential Christians. This is the riveting story of John Newton’s transformed life through Christ. It is the story of amazing grace both in the life of Newton and in the song that has become the Christian national anthem. This is a powerful read about one of the most powerful figures in Christian history.”

See All

“There’s nothing like a well-written, thoroughly researched biography of a godly saint to stir one’s heart, stretch faith, and expand kingdom vision. This fascinating and gripping book makes the life of John Newton come alive for the contemporary reader. There’s no hedging on Newton’s depravity, nor his utterly passionate devotion to his precious Savior. I highly recommend this excellent work—it’s one that will transform not only minds but hearts!”

See All