... It is great to see the stories of these Christian heroes made available to older children and teenagers.

Wilberforce has fascinated and confused biographers and historians for centuries – how did this hilarious, spontaneous, chaotic and conspicuously gracious man change the world? Christians have delighted in his attachment to their gospel and have hoped that the silver stream of world–changing inspiration was divine. And now at last, in these pages, Wilberforce can speak for himself – and the conclusion is luminous: Jesus Christ once said that people would be fruitful as they abide in him. In these pages we see a man, an undeniably fruitful man, abiding in Christ.  Believers will find a brother travelling the path that they have known, and will be inspired to press on, rejoicing by faith in the One who brings fruit into sight. I can’t think of a more thrilling or important publication from the last ten years.

William Wilberforce, the leader of the campaign for the abolition of the slave trade, was a devoted Evangelical Christian. His spiritual journals between 1785 and 1833 open a window on the inward life of this public man. He was frank, self–critical and conscious of his constant dependence on the God of mercy. Michael McMullen has transcribed all the journals and added helpful explanatory notes so as to make this detailed record of Wilberforce’s Christian journey available for the first time.

William Wilberforce recorded many intimate details about his spiritual life, and thanks to Michael McMullen’s painstaking work, many of them are published here for the first time. This book is an inestimable treasure – it draws back the curtain on Wilberforce’s struggles and rejoicings in his own words as he wrestled both with himself and all that God had called him to be and do.