A Review By David Boulton

Of course I had heard of Brother Andrew, who had smuggled Bibles into Iron Curtain countries, and of course I had heard of this book, about his life and exploits, but not being a great fan of autobiographies or of biographies, I had not read it.

I was given a copy by a representative of Open Doors, the non-denominational organisation that Brother Andrew launched to support persecuted Christians all over the world. I hope to share in this ministry, and so I began to read the book. Brother Andrew’s story is an incredible one, it combines high adventure, broken lives and spiritual struggle, all with the framework of a terrific, page-turning thriller – made all the more thrilling by being completely true.

It is a book that has sold over ten million copies in English alone. It is well-written and exciting; and it is undoubtedly a book to make the comfortable, complacent Christians of the West feel very uncomfortable indeed about the quality of our faith and our response to challenges of the Gospel. But it is also a book to spur us on to new and better expressions of faith.

The Rev’d David Boulton is Diocesan Curate and Webmaster for the Free Church of England, and also a Preacher for The Leprosy Mission, England & Wales.