Seven Men: And the Secret of Their Greatness

Short Review: I have read two previous books by Metaxas. I really didn't like Amazing Grace about Wilberforce (great subject, handled poorly). And I was pretty mixed about Bonhoeffer. It read pretty well (although his Dan Ratherism drive me nuts.) But even as a casual Bonhoeffer reader and someone that knows almost nothing about German history I caught multiple errors. And once the academic reviews of Bonhoeffer came out I was even less prone to like that book. But he did write a needed popular biography of Bonhoeffer and helped to rekindle interest in someone that deserves the interest.

But I probably would not have picked up this book if it were 1) not on sale and 2) if so many people that I know that know Metaxas didn't like him so much.

The biographies themselves were pretty good. I had some issues with the Washington one around his faith (and I don't think Washington really fit with the rest of the group) but for the most part the short bios were well written and without the strange metaphors that Metaxas used so often in Bonhoeffer.

But to get to the bios I had to read the intro, which drove me nuts. It was all about how the world no longer has heroes and role models (clearly not true) and how we need to step up and be men (one of my pet peeves.) So I was pretty irritated throughout the intro. But I made it through.

What I thought was most odd given the title was that there was virtually no commentary or epilogue that wrapped the book up and told us the secret of their greatness. I think Metaxas was trying to suggest their faith was the secret to their greatness, but that was not explicit and regardless, is too general to really matter. It would have been a better book if the intro had been left off and the subtitle had been changed.

My full review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/seven-men/