What follows is a sample first chapter of my book, Heroes: Five Leaders From Whose Lives We Can Learn.

If you enjoyed it, please do consider buying the full book, which is available as an ebook through Amazon.

In the full book, you can also read the stories of William Wilberforce, C. S. Lewis, Lesslie Newbigin, and Tim Keller.

The date was 10 March 1748; the location was the Atlantic ocean. The winds that had been building for days had finally exploded with violent ferocity and in the midst of a crashing gale with waves as tall as buildings, a wooden merchant ship called The Greyhound was struggling to stay afloat. The storm had already wrecked huge sections of the ship, even punching a hole in its side. As flood waters raced through the breach, crew members worked feverishly to patch the hole whilst others desperately manned the pumps. Some unfortunates screamed in terror as they were swept overboard, along with much of the provisions. The end looked near and it was surely just a matter of time before the ship was consumed by a hungry sea. But for one man in particular, this storm was to prove even more significant, for it would mark a radical and dramatic turning point in his life. That man was John Newton.