With lawsuits coming through the courts to seek reparations for slavery, the story of William Wilberforce ought to take on new interest for Americans. Wilberforce was the evangelical member of the British Parliament who ended the slave trade and slavery in the British Empire in the early 19th Century.

Had America followed the Wilberforce example, consider how American history could have been improved—a peaceful end to one of our worst national sins; restitution to slaves for the transition to freedom; no Civil War; perhaps no legacy of segregation and bitter race relations. President John Quincy Adams tried to get America to follow in Wilberforce’s footsteps in his campaign to end slavery as a member of the House of Representatives, where he served after his presidency. The Reformed Presbyterian Church was heading the nation in the same direction, with its requirement that members not own slaves. But Congress did not listen to the prophetic pleas of Adams, and we wound up with a Civil War instead.

Wilberforce’s life is not so well known in America, perhaps because his biographies have been written by British authors. They understandably assume that readers have some background in British history and know that a Whig is not something you where on your head. Most Americans could have a hard time with some of the great Wilberforce biographies, such as the one written in 1977 by John Pollock. recently republished with an endorsement from British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Now, David Vaughan has provided a short and well-researched biography of Wilberforce for American readers. Vaughan sets the background of the slave trade in the British Empire and has an instinctive grasp of what people need to know in order to understand the heroic contribution that Wilberforce made to Western civilization.

Vaughan is a pastor, school principal, radio show host, and community newspaper editor in the St. Louis area. Somewhere between those duties, he finds time to write good books. His pastoral background helps him appreciate Wilberforce’s evangelical Christian faith, which was the key to his persevering campaign on behalf of the slaves. Wilberforce gave up a life of ease and comfort upon his conversion to the Christian faith at the age of 25 in 1784. Some historians think he also gave up a clear shot at becoming prime minister and party leader in order to devote his attention to freeing the slaves.

Loosely affiliated with the Tory Party, he functioned as an independent and became more influential than prime minister. He offered a voice of conscience in Parliament that leaders of both parties learned to heed in times of political crisis, and his views could carry enough other members to make or break the party in power.

Vaughan’s book is organized like others in a biographical series by Highland Books. The first half is chronological, and the second half provides a review of character qualities. In some ways it reads like a textbook, and it could provide an excellent textbook for a history course. Or it offers parents a chance to apply Proverbs 13:20—”He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm”—in the search for suitable heroes for their children.

In an age dominated by cynicism and moral relativism, Wilberforce will be hard for some readers to understand. His compassion cannot be explained away by theories of psychology or a deprived childhood. He did good works in response to the love he found in Jesus Christ; he persevered on behalf of the slaves until they gained their freedom just as he was dying. Vaughan shows that Wilberforce was more than just the great emancipator, though that task was enough to earn him a special place in the history books. He was part of the Clapham Sect, which reformed British political life—what we might call campaign finance reform, not so much on the technical aspects of paying for campaigns, but on the heart of the matter. He and his friends introduced what was then a novel idea, that members of Parliament should seek the nation’s welfare and not the special interests of various groups. It was also an example of the Scripture. Jeremiah 29:7: “Seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the Lord for it; for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace.”

Wilberforce was an advocate of prison reform and helped usher in a more humane approach to colonialism in India.

His life certainly deserves at least one good biography from an American author, and Vaughan has provided it. Contemplation of how America might have benefited from an American version of his life helps reveal the substantial difference that one person, wholly dedicated to Christ, can make in the life of a nation.

Russell B. Pulliam, Associate Editor, Indianapolis Star