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Published Oct 2017
496 pages
Genre: Biography/Memoir
Publication Information
A brilliant and inspiring biography of the most influential man in modern history, Martin Luther, in time for the 500th anniversary of the Reformation.
On All Hallow's Eve in 1517, a young monk named Martin Luther posted a document he hoped would spark an academic debate, but that instead ignited a conflagration that would forever destroy the world he knew. Five hundred years after Luther's now famous Ninety-five Theses appeared, Eric Metaxas, acclaimed biographer of the bestselling Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy and Amazing Grace: William Wilberforce and the Heroic Campaign to End Slavery, paints a startling portrait of the wild figure whose adamantine faith cracked the edifice of Western Christendom and dragged medieval Europe into the future. Written in riveting prose and impeccably researched, Martin Luther tells the searing tale of a humble man who, by bringing ugly truths to the highest seats of power, caused the explosion whose sound is still ringing in our ears. Luther's monumental faith and courage gave birth to the ideals of liberty, equality, and individualism that today lie at the heart of all modern life.
"Starred Review. A masterful portrait of a seminal figure." - Booklist
"Starred Review. A meaty autobiography of the Reformation leader ... Metaxas offers something different and special." - Kirkus
"[A] highly readable, fast-paced biography of Luther with some peculiar omissions ... General readers may enjoy the cheerful tone of Metaxas's writing." - Publishers Weekly
"If you had to make a list of five people who shaped the modern West, Martin Luther would be on it. Yet almost everything you think you know about Luther is wrong, as Eric Metaxas shows in this brilliant biography. This is an amazing story, beautifully told. You'll emerge wiser." - Tucker Carlson, host of Tucker Carlson Tonight
"Metaxas's Martin Luther is a breathtaking achievement and a gripping read. Bold, fast-paced, and magisterial like its hero, yet always stylish and witty like its author." - Os Guinness, author of Impossible People
"When Martin Luther made it possible to read the Bible for yourself, he did more than anyone else to create the future. Read this book for yourself to understand the story we're all still living through." - Peter Thiel, cofounder of PayPal, entrepreneur, and author of Zero to One
"A marvelous, brilliant book that is equal parts biography, theology, political philosophy, and cultural history. With a light and rapid touch that nonetheless is capable of conveying deep truths and insights, Metaxas deftly blends these many elements into a narrative that reads as compellingly as a novel." - Mark Helprin, bestselling author of Winter's Tale and A Soldier of the Great War
"Eric Metaxas has blessed us with yet another indispensable biography. With his customary verve and elegance, profound reverence, and biting wit, Metaxas's Martin Luther is an education in the meaning of man's relation to God. It makes Luther's life come alive and illuminates how deeply that life has affected our own." - Bret Lott, bestselling author of Jewel and nonfiction editor of Crazyhorse magazine
"As with his seminal work on Bonhoeffer, Eric Metaxas, in this extraordinary work on Martin Luther, reveals those nuances that made Luther the force that he was. As the details gather in the book, you soon feel the presence of the man himself." - Dr. Gerald L. Schroeder, lecturer and teacher at College of Jewish Studies Aish HaTorah's Discovery Seminar
"This massive but eminently readable biography of Luther deserves no less an adjective than 'formidable.' Eric Metaxas is to religious biographers what Pixar is to cartoons." - Peter Kreeft, author of Catholics and Protestants: What Can We Learn from Each Other?
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Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Eric Metaxas is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of If You Can Keep It, Bonhoeffer, Amazing Grace, and Miracles. His books have been translated into more than twenty-five languages. His writing has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and The New Yorker, and Metaxas has appeared as a cultural commentator on CNN, the Fox News Channel, and MSNBC. He is the host of The Eric Metaxas Show, a nationally syndicated daily radio show. Metaxas is also the founder and host of Socrates in the City, the acclaimed series of conversations on "life, God, and other small topics," featuring Malcolm Gladwell, Dick Cavett, and Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, among many others. He is a senior fellow and lecturer at large at the King's College in New York City, where he lives with his wife and daughter.
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