The Plain Mr. Knox

"John Knox, more than any other man, laid the foundations of democracy, revitalised Church and Government, and brought the benefits of education to the ordinary people of Scotland.

One of the most celebrated people of his era, Thomas Carlyle, said that Knox was 'The one Schotchman to whom of all others his country and the world owe a debt.' If you understand Knox -- then you understand Scotland.

Over 200 years after his death, when news reached Britain of the American Declaration of Independence, the Prime Minister of the day declared that 'America has run off with a Scottish parson'. Knox's influence had spread far outside Scotland during his life, but even more so after his death."

-- From the back cover

Elizabeth Whitley -- a former journalist, historian and politician -- was also wife to the minister at St. Giles where Knox once pastored. Her intimacy and affection for, not only John Knox himself, but also the places and people and surroundings of his life comes across in almost every page of this very engaging biography.

-- From the back cover

In addition to being an extremely skilled and thorough historian -- correcting many legends and misunderstandings about Knox's life -- Whitley is also a master storyteller. Although she naturally and normally enough begins her biography with John Knox's childhood, even from the first chapter she is also careful to include details of names and places and people and politics that will later be integral to the overarching story of John Knox and the Scottish Reformation.

Also, while not rushing through any biographical material from Knox's earlier years, Whitley gives appropriate and powerful emphasis to the time of the Reformation and the enormous historical movements and upheavals of that day. The big events, and small details, of Knox's life and ministry not only serve to illustrate how he had such a great impact on his own, and later, generations -- they also explain why they were so vital and significant in the context of all the political and theological corruption of his day.

This ability and talent for painting the larger picture makes this biography of John Knox also a history book for the Reformation (even in England, France, and elsewhere) and helps bring the history vividly and accessibly to life even for non-historians.

But perhaps most endearing to this reader was Whitley's clear appreciation for the personal character and powerful message of John Knox. From personal letters to first-hand accounts of Knox's sermons, Whitley shares the robust theology of God's sovereignty and Christ's salvation that motivated Knox, inspired his followers, and impacted whole continents for centuries to come.