Stories of Great Men

Beginning with Alexander the Great, Faye Huntington arranges short lives as an alphabet for young readers. Soldiers, rulers, writers, inventors and religious leaders share the collection's pages, with Joseph Addison, Abraham Lincoln, Samuel Morse and Isaac Newton among the names in its contents. The opening speaks directly to children, suggests ways to remember dates and encourages further reading about historical incidents.

These portraits treat public achievement as a question of character. Huntington weighs Alexander's victories against his conduct, using Christian beliefs to distinguish worldly power from self-command. The account of Adoniram Judson describes efforts to protect a manuscript during his imprisonment, including concealment inside a pillow. John Knox's chapter then introduces the Reformation and the dangers attached to his changing beliefs. The book offers readers a view of how history and biography could become lessons in duty, faith and personal responsibility.