Amazing Grace Audiobook Libro.fm

A fascinating journey through the history of one of the transatlantic worlds most popular hymns

Sung in moments of personal isolation or on state occasions watched by millions Amazing Grace has become an unparalleled anthem for humankind How did a simple Christian hymn written in a remote English vicarage in 1772 come to hold such sway in all corners of the modern world With this short engaging cultural history James Walvin offers an explanation

The greatest paradox is that the author of Amazing Grace John Newton was a former Liverpool slave captain Walvin follows the song across the Atlantic to track how it became part of the cause for abolition and galvanized decades of movements and trends in American history and popular culture By the end of the twentieth century Amazing Grace was performed in Soweto and Vanuatu by political dissidents in China and by Kikuyu women in Kenya No other song has acquired such global resonance as Amazing Grace Behold a compelling story of music and social change