Billy Graham: His Life and Influence

First, let me tell you how excited I was to get this book from BookSneeze to review, more than excited!! I chose to receive and review this book because first my "hometown" for four years was Charlotte, NC, and it is a city that I will always wish to return to. Second reason I chose this book is because in college I was a religious studies major, I was always interested in how religion affected society and how society affected the progression of religion. SO for my review. This was not your typical biography. It was more of a biography that was torn apart in chapters that organized his life into themes, not exactly in chronological order. I enjoyed this different take on reading about someone's life. As well, the book set up allowed for other people's accounts of the encounters they had with Billy Graham. I think my favorite chapters were involving the presidents. I was absolutely unaware as to the impact that Billy Graham had on each presidency. After reading this book, I am completely aware that our America would be a different place if Billy Graham hadn't interceded in critical moments in history. What an amazing thought - that one person had that much impact over a long length of our American history. Finally, I loved reading the last part about his family. Although his wife, Ruth, was mentioned throughout the book, I enjoyed reading more about her and the children they raised. After reading about the many trips and crusades he was a part of, you didn't realize until the end that his wife kept their home and raised their children basically on their own - a sacrifice to allow her husband to preach to the world. I would recommend this book to people who have an interest in history and religion. It was definitely a thought provoking read and was hard to read laying by the pool!