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Heroes of the Faith
C. S. Lewis: Creator of Narnia
People need inspiration like never before-stories of legendary, faith-filled heroes who met amazing obstacles with courage, perseverance, and even joy. . .stories of godly men and women who changed the world. Barbour's retooled Heroes of the Faith series is back with additional titles-compelling, easy-to-read biographies of missionaries, evangelists, and others who made their mark for Christ beyond the walls of the church. Adults and adolescents alike will be inspired by the commitment, sacrifice, and wisdom of these great Christian leaders. Heroes of the Faith-the name says it all!
202 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1992
15 people are currently reading
181 people want to read
About the author
Sam Wellman
90 books17 followersSam Wellman, PhD, is a writer of numerous biographies. He has traveled to Germany many times and twice stayed for several months (in Berlin and Wittenberg). He blogs and tweets on Martin Luther and Frederick the Wise. He lives near Wichita, Kansas.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
January 9, 2023
What did I just read...?
This is not a biography. This is... a live-action re-telling? A creative re-imagination? A visionary re-invention?
I squirmed at the fanciful artistic liberties all the way through. There's dialogue, physical actions, scene descriptions, and people's inner thoughts and feelings which I'm pretty sure are made-up wholesale. There's not enough footnoting and citations to prove the words Wellman puts into people's mouths. Even if people did write some of these words, that doesn't mean they said them verbally at the time. So far-fetched.
I won't wholly discount the author's idea to write this kind of biography. But there's no preface, no introduction, no foreword, not even the blurb on the back cover explains what he's trying to do with this "imaginative re-telling." The book launches straight into the dialogue and inner thoughts of men in the trenches, as if this were All Quiet on the Western Front. Unless there's diary entries from Lewis from which this is directly lifted, I'm pretty sure these scenes never happened. Did these people exist? Sure. Were they present in these rough geographical locations? Sure. Was Lewis wounded in the way Wellman describes? Yes. But how do you know those men said those particular words, as they were clutching those particular supplies, as they ran into that particular trench, with those particular thoughts in their heads?
I've read enough other Lewis biographies to recognize what facts and ideas Wellman does credibly pull from reliable sources. There is a lot of truth in here, things we know happened. But there's also so many other assumptions, even pure fictions, stuck in-between the biographical facts. Fictional glue holds the scenes together. And it makes me twitch. In my opinion, the truth is stretched so much here, it snaps.
I have to ask: For what purpose? To what end? To create engaging scenes? To make these historical figures seem like characters in a novel? To try to capture the reader's attention? The effort backfires. Instead, the author's voice comes across as condescending, casting a shiny patina over everything while skirting around controversial issues in Lewis's life.
For basic introductions to Lewis, read these instead:
--Past Watchful Dragons: The Narnian Chronicles of C. S. Lewis
--A Life Observed: A Spiritual Biography of C. S. Lewis
--C. S. Lewis: Christian and Storyteller
For more thorough biographies of Lewis, read these instead:
--C. S. Lewis: A Life: Eccentric Genius, Reluctant Prophet
--The Narnian: The Life and Imagination of C.S. Lewis
--Surprised by Laughter: The Comic World of C.S. Lewis
This is not a biography. This is... a live-action re-telling? A creative re-imagination? A visionary re-invention?
I squirmed at the fanciful artistic liberties all the way through. There's dialogue, physical actions, scene descriptions, and people's inner thoughts and feelings which I'm pretty sure are made-up wholesale. There's not enough footnoting and citations to prove the words Wellman puts into people's mouths. Even if people did write some of these words, that doesn't mean they said them verbally at the time. So far-fetched.
I won't wholly discount the author's idea to write this kind of biography. But there's no preface, no introduction, no foreword, not even the blurb on the back cover explains what he's trying to do with this "imaginative re-telling." The book launches straight into the dialogue and inner thoughts of men in the trenches, as if this were All Quiet on the Western Front. Unless there's diary entries from Lewis from which this is directly lifted, I'm pretty sure these scenes never happened. Did these people exist? Sure. Were they present in these rough geographical locations? Sure. Was Lewis wounded in the way Wellman describes? Yes. But how do you know those men said those particular words, as they were clutching those particular supplies, as they ran into that particular trench, with those particular thoughts in their heads?
I've read enough other Lewis biographies to recognize what facts and ideas Wellman does credibly pull from reliable sources. There is a lot of truth in here, things we know happened. But there's also so many other assumptions, even pure fictions, stuck in-between the biographical facts. Fictional glue holds the scenes together. And it makes me twitch. In my opinion, the truth is stretched so much here, it snaps.
I have to ask: For what purpose? To what end? To create engaging scenes? To make these historical figures seem like characters in a novel? To try to capture the reader's attention? The effort backfires. Instead, the author's voice comes across as condescending, casting a shiny patina over everything while skirting around controversial issues in Lewis's life.
For basic introductions to Lewis, read these instead:
--Past Watchful Dragons: The Narnian Chronicles of C. S. Lewis
--A Life Observed: A Spiritual Biography of C. S. Lewis
--C. S. Lewis: Christian and Storyteller
For more thorough biographies of Lewis, read these instead:
--C. S. Lewis: A Life: Eccentric Genius, Reluctant Prophet
--The Narnian: The Life and Imagination of C.S. Lewis
--Surprised by Laughter: The Comic World of C.S. Lewis
December 10, 2017
I read this back in middle or high school for a required biography book report. While that was a number of years ago, I do remember that it was well written enough I didn't get bored with it and overall found it interesting and informative.
June 15, 2024
This book made me want to read more of Lewis’ works. It may not be the best biography out there, but I thoroughly enjoyed reading about the life that made such impact on Christian literature, apologetics and even poetry. He was a brilliant mind.
January 1, 2018
A must-read for anyone interested in the life of C. S. Lewis.
A quote from the back of the book: "A respected British scholar...a prolific writer of Christian classics...a committed atheist for the first half of his life--C. S. Lewis was one of the great Christian thinkers of the twentieth century."
A quote from the back of the book: "A respected British scholar...a prolific writer of Christian classics...a committed atheist for the first half of his life--C. S. Lewis was one of the great Christian thinkers of the twentieth century."
November 8, 2025
I really love learning about the life of people I truly admire! Gave it four stars cause my wife said I give too many 5- star reviews (I can’t help it if I only read good books!) and because I wish it was longer!
January 28, 2016
The man well-praised who spoke constantly of great truths while balancing it with wondrous worlds of wonder. A man of scholarly wisdom C. S. Lewis was once considered an intellectual, a new modern thinker. His passion was only revealed from his regenerated faith as he pursued people to question but believe the truth that he had once decried. Formerly an outspoken atheist this man then spoke to the masses the meaning of this "mere Christianity."
Never before have I ever been so transformed on my opinion of this book. When I started it I became weary that Wellman the author of this bio was speaking so extensively about his life (even including full dialogue sequences) I was afraid he was filling in the blanks about what was not known which in my opinion is a "no-no" if you are telling non-fiction. I don't think it is a fact however that this novel-form about a true thinker is not as noticeable as the reader delves into the wonderful creation of his many fiction fantasies as well as the beginnings of what would be his works on theism.
I found myself excited to learn of these places in literature and how they began (it was a treat that Out of the Silent Planet, part one of what would be his well-known Space Trilogy seemed to receive a special spotlight: the extensive explanations of how they came to be make me yearn to read it for the very first time!). Such a gifted writer and poet his story traverses generations and explains why Lewis was important to us today to let us ponder the truths of this world.
I absolutely am spellbound by this book and I hope that many others give it a try as these many words cannot do it justice.
Even the magic of Narnia is revealed here in an excerpt on how it relates to its audience:
"But this won't be evident to grown-ups for many years to come," he told Warnie. 'Of course, the children will know it already.'" (Wellman, 168).
Could that mean this author is saying even the readers may not fully know it as adults but will understand it if they were children? Kind of like the characters in Narnia and kind of profound in a way as well!
If you did not know much of Lewis before you must read this book. And if you do you will be fascinated until the very end.
Never before have I ever been so transformed on my opinion of this book. When I started it I became weary that Wellman the author of this bio was speaking so extensively about his life (even including full dialogue sequences) I was afraid he was filling in the blanks about what was not known which in my opinion is a "no-no" if you are telling non-fiction. I don't think it is a fact however that this novel-form about a true thinker is not as noticeable as the reader delves into the wonderful creation of his many fiction fantasies as well as the beginnings of what would be his works on theism.
I found myself excited to learn of these places in literature and how they began (it was a treat that Out of the Silent Planet, part one of what would be his well-known Space Trilogy seemed to receive a special spotlight: the extensive explanations of how they came to be make me yearn to read it for the very first time!). Such a gifted writer and poet his story traverses generations and explains why Lewis was important to us today to let us ponder the truths of this world.
I absolutely am spellbound by this book and I hope that many others give it a try as these many words cannot do it justice.
Even the magic of Narnia is revealed here in an excerpt on how it relates to its audience:
"But this won't be evident to grown-ups for many years to come," he told Warnie. 'Of course, the children will know it already.'" (Wellman, 168).
Could that mean this author is saying even the readers may not fully know it as adults but will understand it if they were children? Kind of like the characters in Narnia and kind of profound in a way as well!
If you did not know much of Lewis before you must read this book. And if you do you will be fascinated until the very end.
January 4, 2011
I'm afraid this was the least nuanced Lewis biography I have ever read, counting at least two others written for young readers. But that may be an inherent limitation of the format.
Meant for young readers, this is creative nonfiction - a fictionalized account of the facts of CS Lewis' life, rather than a straight biography. Those two facts - that it's meant for young readers, and that it's a fictionalized account - lead, in my opinion, to a cartoonized Lewis, accessible to the young reader, but different enough from accounts of the man that it deeply bothers me.
By all accounts, Lewis was a much more colorful, much more vibrant personality than the somewhat sanitized Lewis that comes across in this book - the Lewis portrayed here reminds me more of the Anthony Hopkins interpretation of Lewis seen in "The Shadowlands," which people who knew Lewis have said was the result of the actor not making any effort to approximate Lewis' appearance or personality.
But perhaps that similarity to "The Shadowlands" should remind me to take it easy on this book. It is extremely difficult to portray someone who is both scholarly and vibrant at the same time.
Where is Lewis' booming voice? Where is his rowdy sense of humor? Where is his unforgivingly sharp wit? It's there in the portrayal, actually. Except it gets buried by the weight of Lewis' own scholarship, and the result is an unintentionally tame Lewis.
So. Maybe this piece is okay if you're going through the books in this series. (I do not recall reading any of the others as of this posting.)
Otherwise, I would recommend "Jack's Life" by Lewis' stepson Douglas Gresham instead. If you want a portrayal of Lewis from a Christian's perspective, don't worry, Gresham is a committed Christian, and it shows in that book.
But if you have this book and your young reader is enjoying it, it's a reasonable introduction to the life and works of CS Lewis. Just make sure he reads more Lewis stuff as he grows up. After all, that's sort of the point of exposing him to a Lewis biography in the first place, right?
RE de Leon
Agoo, La Union, Philippines
2:08 AM January 5, 2011
Meant for young readers, this is creative nonfiction - a fictionalized account of the facts of CS Lewis' life, rather than a straight biography. Those two facts - that it's meant for young readers, and that it's a fictionalized account - lead, in my opinion, to a cartoonized Lewis, accessible to the young reader, but different enough from accounts of the man that it deeply bothers me.
By all accounts, Lewis was a much more colorful, much more vibrant personality than the somewhat sanitized Lewis that comes across in this book - the Lewis portrayed here reminds me more of the Anthony Hopkins interpretation of Lewis seen in "The Shadowlands," which people who knew Lewis have said was the result of the actor not making any effort to approximate Lewis' appearance or personality.
But perhaps that similarity to "The Shadowlands" should remind me to take it easy on this book. It is extremely difficult to portray someone who is both scholarly and vibrant at the same time.
Where is Lewis' booming voice? Where is his rowdy sense of humor? Where is his unforgivingly sharp wit? It's there in the portrayal, actually. Except it gets buried by the weight of Lewis' own scholarship, and the result is an unintentionally tame Lewis.
So. Maybe this piece is okay if you're going through the books in this series. (I do not recall reading any of the others as of this posting.)
Otherwise, I would recommend "Jack's Life" by Lewis' stepson Douglas Gresham instead. If you want a portrayal of Lewis from a Christian's perspective, don't worry, Gresham is a committed Christian, and it shows in that book.
But if you have this book and your young reader is enjoying it, it's a reasonable introduction to the life and works of CS Lewis. Just make sure he reads more Lewis stuff as he grows up. After all, that's sort of the point of exposing him to a Lewis biography in the first place, right?
RE de Leon
Agoo, La Union, Philippines
2:08 AM January 5, 2011
May 9, 2018
This book, a biography about the influential Christian activist C.S. Lewis, was truly inspiring. As a Christian, I look up to C.S. Lewis as a brother in Christ and also as a writer. He has wrote some of the best books I have ever known, though I have not read them yet, I know from reviews that they are exceptional. He is the author of the fiction series Narnia and also the author of one of the most well known Christian books on the twentieth century Mere Christianity. His biography, written by Sam Wellman, went through his life starting from joining the British Army, part of the infantry, at age nineteen. When he was wounded on April 15th of 1918, he was sent to the hospital and eventually home, never to return to the hellish Great War. Throughout the book, Wellman gives an account of Lewis’ story through school and multiple hardships that shaped his heart and mind to become favorable towards Christianity and God, for up until this time, Lewis was an outright atheist. However, Wellman tells how Lewis converted from Atheism to Christianity and how he used his conversion story for most of his works of writing, which were numerous. What made this book so interesting was how hardened Lewis’ heart was and how God, little by little, chiseled away Lewis’ barriers to His love and grace. Being such an outright atheist, completely not believing in God at all, made it so amazing how Lewis then become a devout disciple of Christ, writing some of the greatest Christian works of all time. It is inspiring to me how God performed miracles all throughout Lewis’ life that he was unaware of until he came to know Christ.
Like every Christian story, though, it is not all perfect once you come to know Christ. Your life actually becomes much more challenging since you are called to surrender your whole life to God and love him more than anything or anyone in this world. You have to fight from the day you become a Christian to the day you die and join Christ in heaven, your eternal home. It is very hard, but as Lewis’ testimony showed, very worth it. Christ is worth it, heaven is worth it, grace is worth it. You might not see the true worth until you are called home to heaven, but most of the time God reveals glimpses of his glory and worth throughout one’s life. He did this with Lewis, which was a beautiful thing to read about. Lewis loved God so much and had such strong faith in him that when the time came for Lewis to be called home to his Father, which he was aware was happening, he actually said he was ready to be judged. That seems like a weird thing to say when you are dying. Most say that they are ready to see their loved ones and see Christ, but Lewis was ready to be judged! He was ready, because of his devout faith and life dedicated to Christ, to be called a “good and faithful servant” by God himself and to be made perfect. He was ready to be rewarded for all his hard work, sorrow, trials, and suffering that he experienced and glorified Christ through. When I read the ending, my perspective on life and death changed. I want to be ready, every single day, to be judged. I want to finally meet Christ and live a life that can be rewarded when I am finally called home. This is a book every Christian, and even everyone who is not a Christian, needs to read.
Like every Christian story, though, it is not all perfect once you come to know Christ. Your life actually becomes much more challenging since you are called to surrender your whole life to God and love him more than anything or anyone in this world. You have to fight from the day you become a Christian to the day you die and join Christ in heaven, your eternal home. It is very hard, but as Lewis’ testimony showed, very worth it. Christ is worth it, heaven is worth it, grace is worth it. You might not see the true worth until you are called home to heaven, but most of the time God reveals glimpses of his glory and worth throughout one’s life. He did this with Lewis, which was a beautiful thing to read about. Lewis loved God so much and had such strong faith in him that when the time came for Lewis to be called home to his Father, which he was aware was happening, he actually said he was ready to be judged. That seems like a weird thing to say when you are dying. Most say that they are ready to see their loved ones and see Christ, but Lewis was ready to be judged! He was ready, because of his devout faith and life dedicated to Christ, to be called a “good and faithful servant” by God himself and to be made perfect. He was ready to be rewarded for all his hard work, sorrow, trials, and suffering that he experienced and glorified Christ through. When I read the ending, my perspective on life and death changed. I want to be ready, every single day, to be judged. I want to finally meet Christ and live a life that can be rewarded when I am finally called home. This is a book every Christian, and even everyone who is not a Christian, needs to read.
March 1, 2019
This book was written for younger readers (so I do not fit the intended demographic). I did not much like the author's "conversational" style and omniscient point of view, so I stopped reading at page 82. -- OTOH, I applaud the author's use of Lewis's own writings and incorporating them into his story, whenever appropriate.
September 7, 2023
This was a little sparse for a biography, even considering that the target audience is probably middle grades. But it does give the basics on his life and influences, which I appreciated, so for that it's useful. The second half is better than the first so push through that.
July 11, 2017
This is fairly good. I certainly do not like biographies, though.
January 17, 2019
it was a little hard to read, i think i'm just not so familiar with the style of writing. but the story itself was fantastic! not to mention this is a biography!
July 21, 2020
Love this bio..always loved C.S. Lewis and his personal story of learning what Christian faith is all about and how much his writings helped and influenced people...Long Live Aslan!
March 8, 2025
A nice easy read on the life of C.S. Lewis.
maybe
March 2, 20172 copies in church library
August 12, 2015
I enjoyed the style of the book - as if told from C. S. Lewis's point of view, it made the book very easy to read compared to a regular biography, but I found a lot of it speculative at best. A lot of the speech that is supposedly the words of Lewis has no sources to back it up - a 2 page bibliography for a book about C. S. Lewis is clearly evidence that a lot of it is here-say! Unsubstantiated views on the relationships between both Mrs. Moore and Joy Davidman/Gresham abound and a lot of the facts would be very interesting and fresh scholarship IF they could be authenticated, however I find no evidence in any other writing on C. S. Lewis of some of the comments he makes, particularly his fabrications of supposed conversations and thoughts Lewis would have had whilst a soldier in the trenches. Unless Wellman was there or read Lewis's mind he can have no basis for dictating that these conversations took place. All in all, I would avoid if actually wanting to study Lewis's life with any sense of accuracy - the basics are there, but the rest is pretty much a fictional account!!!
December 15, 2008
I found his life very interesting. A peek into a "scholarly" lifestyle and a wonderful journey of discovering God. I was amazed at his convictions and ability to really understand the simpleness of Christianity from a very deep perspective. I loved a quote from the New York times about him as they reviewed the book "Christian Behavior". ...His mind is very clear; his style exhibits the costly simplicity that is achieved only after much learning and thinking and pruning away of non-essentials...
December 21, 2017
I felt I should give this book fewer stars early on, I had concerns to the writing style and how much was made up. As it went on I enjoyed the story more and trusted more of the content.
The book has given me more to read, it mention most of Lewis' books and a few others, for religious individuals, I feel this book can give insight to a value I feel many Christians have lost. Lewis read books of hard substance, he study philosophy and history and this helped in his faith long term, and as a result it helped those who have and will read his works.
The book has given me more to read, it mention most of Lewis' books and a few others, for religious individuals, I feel this book can give insight to a value I feel many Christians have lost. Lewis read books of hard substance, he study philosophy and history and this helped in his faith long term, and as a result it helped those who have and will read his works.
November 29, 2020
I think this is a decent introduction to "Jack" for a middle or Jr. High schooler. It gives an overview of his life but is fairly detailed for the length of the book. It also talks a lot about his writings and includes several excerpts from several books. If you are an adult reader I HIGHLY recommend Jack: A life of CS Lewis by George Sayer and of course, his own Surprised by Joy. I would also include the book CS Lewis: a biography by Jack's friends, Walter Hooper and Roger Lancelyn Green.
January 2, 2015
Written for young readers, this was a fast read touching on many of the important aspects of the life of C.S. Lewis. The dialogue bothered me. Yes, fictionalized, but difficult to get inside someone's head and truly reveal what that person's thoughts. This reading makes me hungry for more...more that is academic rather than fictional.
June 1, 2016
The author gave a decent overview of many of the events in Lewis' life, but I don't feel that it was an easy read especially for the age group for which it purports to be. I felt that there were way too many examples of critics' reviews instead of focusing more on some of his life's details. It helped to fulfill a requirement for my son, but it was not my favorite read on CS Lewis.
April 27, 2016
This book presents a basic introduction into the life and spiritual development of C.S. Lewis. As with the entire series, it is neither exhaustive or highly compelling, but is definitely something to whet your appetite for more discovery of it's title character. A good starter book and series for those interested in historical Christian figures.
March 8, 2012
This book is shallow. Not an honest look at the complex and wonderful life of this complex and thoughtful man. For those who would like to know more CS Lewis I suggest any book by Walter Hooper or "The Narnian" by Alan Jacobs.
May 23, 2015
This is a good, but very short biography of C. S. Lewis. This would be a good introduction to Lewis and his work for those who are not already familiar with the subject. If you are fairly familiar with Lewis and his works, I recommend picking up another biography.
August 31, 2009
Reading this aloud to the boys.
August 10, 2012
Nice little biography that emphasizes just how brilliant and well-read this man was. Learned a few new things about him as well that I'd never heard.
May 18, 2013
Very interesting.
April 23, 2013
Good, basic biography.
June 18, 2013
The style of this biography was engaging and easy to read. Loved it!! Helped me add to my to-read list because Lewis was friends with a lot of other writers.
January 11, 2021
Very well-written, extremely excellent as far as biographies go, fine as books read, and classic in every detail of Lewis's life. Highly recommended!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews