Karen Swallow Prior - Fierce Convictions: The Extraordinary Life of Hannah More—Poet, Reformer, Abolitionist

PRAISE FOR Fierce Convictions

A book everyone should read, a life everyone should know, and one that many should emulate.

ERIC METAXAS, BEST-SELLING AUTHOR OF BONHOEFFER AND SEVEN MEN

Im so glad I read this book. I knew nothing about Hannah More before being introduced to her by Karen Swallow Priors wonderful biography. Hannah Morea marvelous writer and a courageous opponent of the slave tradeis now one of my special saints!

DR. RICHARD MOUW, FORMER PRESIDENT OF FULLER THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY

Karen Swallow Prior isnt satisfied with arresting the intellect. She goes after the imagination and the affections as well with truth, beauty, and wisdom. This book will grip you to the point that you will turn the last page asking, How does this change the way I live from now on?

RUSSELL D. MOORE, PRESIDENT - SOUTHERN BAPTIST ETHICS & RELIGIOUS LIBERTY COMMISSION

Hannah More was an educational pioneer and a best-selling evangelical author of cheap tracts for Englands poor in the tumultuous years of the American and French Revolutions. As educator, writer, reformer, and public Christian she was much lauded, but also much lampooned, during her own lifetime. With careful research, balanced judgments, accessible prose, and unusual insight, Karen Swallow Priors biography shows clearly why Hannah More made such an important impact in her own age, and also why her life can speak in significant ways to readers today.

MARK A. NOLL, AUTHOR OF THE RISE OF EVANGELICALISM: THE AGE OF EDWARDS, WHITEFIELD, AND THE WESLEYS AND FRANCIS A. MCANANEY PROFESSOR OF HISTORY, UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME

Karen Swallow Prior is an extraordinary thinker, writer, voice in the church today. SimplyI cannot miss anything she writes. This generation is in desperate need of lives like Hannah Mores. I cant wait to see how her story changes the current landscape of the church and raises up many with fierce convictions in this generation

ANN VOSKAMP, BEST-SELLING AUTHOR OF ONE THOUSAND GIFTS

Here is that rarity of a book: scholarship of impeccable rigor thats also a compulsive page-turner. Reading Karen Swallow Prior feels like a privilege.

LEONARD SWEET, BEST-SELLING AUTHOR, PROFESSOR, DREW UNIVERSITY AND GEORGE FOX UNIVERSITY, AND CHIEF CONTRIBUTOR TO SERMONS.COM

Hannah More was an extraordinary woman with extraordinary convictions... much like Karen Swallow Prior. This book is a feat in and of itself and Im excited that lives of brave women can be told by the next generation of brave, young women. As an abolitionist, I find strength in knowing there are many that have gone before and many who will come after.

CHRISTINE CAINE, FOUNDER, THE A21 CAMPAIGN AND BEST-SELLING AUTHOR OF UNDAUNTED

Professor Priors perspective, which combines literary and historical insights, gives a valuable window into the character of Hannah More, who is interesting, not just because she is so sparky but also because Mores interests were so many and she is so full of contradictions. It does us local history people good to have the biographical links with Mores writings pointed out and explained. I believe Professor Prior has made a valuable addition to the literature about More, and hope the book gets the success it deserves.

WILLIAM EVANS, TREASURER AND TRUSTEE OF BRISTOL & GLOUCESTERSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY, FORMER SOLICITOR TO THE UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST OF ENGLAND

Whether confronting the evils of slavery, pressing for change in the treatment of animals, urging prison reform, or championing a broader literacy, Hannah More was a clear and steady champion of a moral philanthropy grounded in faith. More deserves to be much better known, and Priors fine treatment of her life ensures that she will be.

WAYNE PACELLE, PRESIDENT AND CEO OF THE HUMANE SOCIETY OF THE UNITED STATES

Hannah More, famed as a gifted playwright, was a witty ornament of London parties in the later eighteenth century. Yet she was also a defender of the British constitution, an architect of Victorian family life and a resolute opponent of the slave trade. Karen Swallow Prior has given a rounded portrait of a woman who combined literary ability with Evangelical piety in a most attractive way.

DAVID BEBBINGTON, PROFESSOR OF HISTORY, UNIVERSITY OF STIRLING, SCOTLAND

Prior has crafted an absolutely absorbing and rigorously researched biography. The interweaving of Hannah Mores own voice via letters and conversation reveals a witty, determined, and socially conscious woman bolstered by her radical faith. The result is a vibrant tale of perseverance under trial and enduring female fortitude in the face of societal challenges.

NATASHA ALEKSIUK DUQUETTE, ASSOCIATE DEAN, TYNDALE UNIVERSITY, TORONTO, CANADA, EDITOR OF JANE AUSTEN AND THE ARTS: ELEGANCE, PROPRIETY, HARMONY AND SUBLIMER ASPECTS, AND AUTHOR OF VEILED INTENT: DISSENTING WOMENS THEOLOGICAL AESTHETICS

As the heart and hands behind Britains movement to abolish slavery, Hannah More deserves long-overdue recognition as one of the great moral reformers of her time. Karen Swallow Priors fascinating biography Fierce Convictions restores her to just that place, alongside John Newton and William Wilberforce. This compelling book is a must-read for anyone interested in how people of faith can make a real difference in their world.

THOMAS S. KIDD, PROFESSOR OF HISTORY, BAYLOR UNIVERSITY

Hannah More was not without faults, or failings. These underscore her humanity, as author Karen Swallow Prior so rightly discerns in this finely balanced book. But then, there are also the seasons of life when we see someone like Hannah More come into her own, or sacrifice much to make a better world. For her abolitionist labors alone, she deserves a place alongside her great friend, William Wilberforce. But then, there are so many other fascinating aspects of Hannah Mores life. Such the reader will find in the pages of this book. Fierce Convictions is narrative biography at its best: restoring a great soul to her rightful place in our living cultural memory.

KEVIN BELMONTE, BIOGRAPHER, HISTORIAN, AND AUTHOR OF WILLIAM WILBERFORCE: A HERO FOR HUMANITY

Many believe in the power of faith to effect social, as well as personal, transformation; but few of us have actually seen it in practice. To us, Karen Swallow Prior offers the life and legacy of Hannah More, a woman of piety and grace, intelligence and passiona woman whose evangelical convictions and literary wit turned her world upside down. As we fight for justice, pursue peace, and work toward a better future, Fierce Convictions reminds us that the way forward also includes learning from the past.

HANNAH ANDERSON, AUTHOR OF MADE FOR MORE: AN INVITATION TO LIVE IN GODS IMAGE

Karen Swallow Prior introduces us to a woman we should have met long before now. In this inspiring new biography, Prior captures the remarkable life of one of the most influential women of her day. Priors portrait of Hannah More is an engaging and fascinating read that shows the power of words to change the world.

JOHN RINEHART, AUTHOR OF GOSPEL PATRONS

In the pages of this vibrant biography, Karen Swallow Prior paints a living picture of Hannah More: a modest and imaginative woman with the courage to cultivate biblical femininity and the wisdom to avoid the snares of early feminism. Her story must be retold in every generation. Ours is now covered.

TONY REINKE, AUTHOR OF NEWTON ON THE CHRISTIAN LIFE: TO LIVE IS CHRIST

Karen Swallow Priors research and ability to capture the narrative of Mores life will keep you turning the pages.