The Letters of Charles Wesley

Charles Wesley is widely known for his hymns. His hymns, however, were only a small percentage of what he wrote. This book provides the transcribed and annotated letters of Charles Wesley from 1728-1756 (a second volume will cover the period 1757-1788). The letters give a first-hand account of Charles' own experiences as, no less that his brother John, he travelled across England, Wales and, briefly, Ireland, preaching his gospel and establishing the earlyMethodist societies. The strength of this book is that it offers a 'warts and all' portrait of a man, and the world in which he lived. This is not a sanitised account written by later historians, but an 'over the shoulder' glimpse into a world now long gone. The letters are far from abstract: rather theydeal with the very real issues of Charles' struggles and triumphs and show something of his rather troubled personality.