An incredibly moving picture book biography of the man behind the hymn “Amazing Grace” and the living legacy of the song by New York Times bestselling author Carole Boston Weatherford and award-winning illustrator Frank Morrison. One stormy night at sea, a wayward man named John Newton feared for his life. In his darkest hour he fell to his knees and prayed—and somehow the battered ship survived the storm. Grateful, he changed his ways and became a minister, yet he still owned a slave ship. But in time, empathy touched his heart. A changed man, he used his powerful words to help end slavery in England. Those words became the hymn “Amazing Grace,” a song that has lifted the spirit and given comfort across time and all over the world.

Stowe traces the evolution of sacred music from colonial times to the present, from the Puritans to Sun Ra, and shows how these cultural encounters have produced a rich harvest of song and faith.

"Amazing Grace" is a song that has inspired millions. From its inception, the words of this beloved hymn have struck a chord across cultures and generations. The author, John Newton, could not have known the impact his words would have. This book highlights the journey Amazing Grace has taken to becoming a modern-day pop-culture phenomenon. When written, Newtons intent was to combine a new song with his New Year's Day sermon, "Faith's Review and Expectation." Subsequently, Amazing Grace was refined and adjusted to fit the more nuanced contexts of the individual communities who adopted it as their own. Refining the tune into today's most recognized cadence was a process that took over one hundred years. Blues, gospel, jazz, folk, and eventually rock and pop music all adopted the song into their respective genres. It also reached beyond church walls and religious gatherings, and moved to streets filled with marchers for civil rights or onto stages of concerts pleading for peace, and into recording studios looking for something new to make a buck.

Written by the world's foremost authority on Martin Luther, this is the definitive biography