The life and work of John Wesley (1703-1791) have had an enormous influence on modern Christianity, including his role as founding father of the Methodists, now 33 million strong worldwide. In this lively new biography journalist Stephen Tomkins narrates the story of Wesley's colorful and dramatic life for a new generation.

Writing with verve and a light, sure touch, Tomkins follows Wesley from his childhood at Epworth rectory through his schooling and university career at Oxford to his mission to Georgia, his conversion in 1738, and finally his life as a religious leader in England....

In the 1780s, around 40,000 slaves a year were taken from Africa in British ships, on the notorious -Middle Passage, - to the Caribbean. In 1787, under an oak tree in Kent, the British Prime Minister, William Pitt, invited his friend William Wilberforce to introduce a parliamentary bill outlawing the slave trade. Neither of them imagined a twenty-year political campaign that would consume the rest of Wilberforce's life.

Born in Hull, England, to wealthy middle-class parents, Wilberforce entered Parliament and became a political celebrity in his day. After undergoing a profound...

Worshiped by 2 billion Christians worldwide, Jesus Christ is arguably the most famous human being ever. Yet grasping the vast story of his followers over the last 2,000 years can be a dizzying, difficult task.

In "A Short History of Christianity" Stephen Tomkins takes readers on an entertaining and enlightening journey through the key stages of Christian development, covering the people, the events, the movements, and the controversies of the church. Tomkins deals with the well-known (Augustine, Martin Luther), the unique (Simeon Stylites, the people's crusade, the Muggletonians), and the...

The Origins of Humankind gives a concise account of human evolution. It covers evolutionary theory, the primates, the human fossil story, the cultural evolution of humans and the origins of agriculture and civilisation. It begins with an account of the development of ideas about evolution, from pre-Darwinian theories through to the study of molecular evolution, and goes on to give detailed explanations of the physical and evolutionary stages leading to Homo sapiens.

Takes the reader on a journey through the key stages of Christian development, covering the people, the events, the movements, the controversies and the expansion of the Church in this 'warts and all' portrait. This book also provides a snapshot of the wor

The Clapham Sect was a group of evangelical Christians, prominent in England from about 1790 to 1830, who campaigned for the abolition of slavery and promoted missionary work at home and abroad. The group centred on the church of John Venn, rector of Clapham in south London. Its members included William Wilberforce, Henry Thornton, James Stephen, Zachary Macaulay and others. Stephen Tomkins tells the fascinating story of the group as one of a web of family relations - father and son, aunt and nephew, husband and wife, daughter and father, cousins, etc. Within the story of the people are the...

This biography tells the story of John Wesley's colourful and dramatic life, beginning with his childhood and his family background, looking especially at the influence of his powerful and austere mother, Susannah. The author then goes on to examine Wesley's school and university careers (including the Holy Club), his mission to Georgia and finally his "conversion" and mission to England - including the organisation of methodist societies. Key issues in Wesley's life, such as his renunciation of wealth and the role of women, are given prominent treatment as is an assessment of Wesley's...