Jonathan Aitken's John Newton, From Disgrace to Amazing Grace, published by Crossway in 2007, is a biography of the former slave-ship captain who became an abolitionist Anglican clergyman and the author of the hymn Amazing Grace, drawing for the first time on Newton's previously unpublished diaries and correspondence. Its strength is that direct archival access, giving it more primary-source grounding than many earlier popular accounts of Newton's life. Aitken is a biographer and former politician rather than an academic historian, so it should be read as a well-sourced popular biography rather than a peer-reviewed academic study, useful for Newton's life narrative specifically.
Facts
Assessment
Reliability Tier2
Jonathan Aitken's John Newton, From Disgrace to Amazing Grace, published by Crossway in 2007, the middle tier reflecting that it draws for the first time on Newton's previously unpublished diaries and correspondence, notwithstanding that Aitken is a biographer and former politician rather than an academic historian, so it reads as a well sourced popular biography rather than a peer reviewed academic study. NotesBiography of John Newton, author of Amazing Grace, Crossway, 2007.
Citation
AuthorJonathan Aitken
PublisherCrossway
Publication Year2007
Source Typebiography
Claims Backed By This Source (13 claims)
This source backs 13 claims across the atlas. As facts: 9 well-attested. As cited relationships: 2 holds. Plus 2 entities citing it as a general reference with no single fact or relationship attached.
Disposition By Topic
- Sources, 7 claims: 7 well-attested.
- Hymns & Liturgical Texts, 5 claims: 2 well-attested, 2 holds, 1 general references.
- Historical Figures, 1 claims: 1 general references.
Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.
View At A Past Year
The atlas records no dated fact of its own for this entry, so there is no other year to choose.