The Elusive Mr. Wesley

A new Wesley biography published at the tricentennial of his birth. The aim of this book is simple: it is an attempt to get to know the real John Wesley. The author explains why getting to know the real Wesley seems so difficult and describes the principles of such a quest. The first part contains material written by Wesley himself. The second part contains material written by Wesley's contemporaries, who describe, defend, and/or attack him on a number of points. The third part describes Wesley's fate at the hands of biographers and other writers since his day, starting with the eulogists and tracing the main currents of Wesley studies into the twenty-first century. This book describes Wesley as he saw himself and as he was seen by both admirers and detractors. It gives a history of the biographies written about Wesley and provides a distillation of the primary documents written by and about Wesley. It includes an index and a bibliography.