Saint Joan: The Girl Soldier (Vision Books) Download Free (EPUB, PDF)
This volume in the Vision Books series of saints for youth combines a world famous Catholic novelist, Louis de Wohl, with one of the most thrilling and dramatic saint's lives in history, St. Joan of Arc. De Wohl uses his famed narrative skill to tell young people about the brave teenage French girl who had visions and led armies in battle, but also about how her entire life testifies to the amazing power of God's grace. It's all here: how Joan, a humble maiden in an insignificant town, was told by St. Michael the Archangel, St. Catherine, and St. Margaret to lead the French in battle against the English; how she finally succeeded in convincing the French of the truth of her mission; how she met with fantastic success but was betrayed, captured, and imprisoned; and finally, how she suffered through a politically motivated trial for heresy and was burned at the stake.Best of all, de Wohl is not interested solely in the external details of Joan's life, but in Joan's all-encompassing love for God, which informed all her courageous actions from beginning to end. You'll not only thrill to Joan's heroism; your heart will delight in her example of loving surrender to God's will. Every detail of her life will ring out to you as a joyful witness to the grace of God. Illustrated.
Series: Vision Books
Paperback: 166 pages
Publisher: Ignatius Press (January 1, 2002)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0898708222
ISBN-13: 978-0898708226
Product Dimensions: 5.4 x 0.6 x 8 inches
Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #107,062 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #29 in Books > Teens > Hobbies & Games > Games & Activities #118 in Books > Christian Books & Bibles > Biographies > Saints #134 in Books > Teens > Religion & Spirituality
Written by Catholic novelist Louis de Wohl, Saint Joan: The Girl Soldier tells the tale of one of my all-time favorite saints: Joan of Arc. And how can anyone not love the story of St. Joan? It is one of the great epic tragedy/triumph stories of all time.In the early 15th century, the English dominated much of France. Reeling from defeat after defeat, the cause of the weak French dauphin, Charles VII, seemed on the verge of collapse. But at the exact moment when final defeat seemed inevitable, a young maid named Joan arrived on the scene, claiming to be a messenger from God. Her message was simple but impossible: the besieged city of Orleans must be relieved and the Dauphin must go to Rheims to be crowned king. The French nobles scoffed. Why should they ignore their own better judgment to heed the insane exhortations of an ignorant peasant girl?Those who doubted Joan were soon humbled, for her ability to predict future events was uncanny. What's more, she had a much better grasp of military problems than any of the French commanders and her advice, when followed, always led to victory. Soon, Joan's mission was fulfilled: Orleans was rescued and the Dauphin was brought to Rheims and crowned king of France. But not long afterward, Joan was captured by the English. Following a humiliating and unjust trial, Saint Joan was condemned to be burned as a witch. She died a martyr for Christ and for France.Louis de Wohl's biography is a fine telling of Saint Joan's story. Though a little heavy on the political details surrounding her struggle--both in the French court and in the tribunal which condemned her--de Wohl paints a compelling portrait of the Maid and her career. This is a book that may be easily read by a child over the age of 10. I read it with my 7 year old daughter and both she and I thoroughly enjoyed it.Highly recommended!
Although for young readers, I picked this book at the library when I visited with my grandchildren.I attended Catholic schools for 12 years and I had heard short stories about Joan of Arc but I never realized that Joan fought so many battles and how her popularity grew among the soldiers and the towns people.The strange voices came from the Archangel Michael, Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret and were extraordinary for this very ordinary peasant French girl. God works in mysterious ways and one never knows who He is going to choose to bring His kingdom forth.Joan was a very devout Catholic and went to Mass every day and received Holy Communion. Joan was extremely conscious of how God can work through people. Except when you are singled out, it is quite unnerving and one has to discern the voices and the commands.Not that Joan was trying to test God, she was testing the visions and she took a leap of faith and followed the voices and all that had been revealed to her came to be.Joan stepped out in faith, not really knowing but trusting that whatever God wanted done she would get the job done.In the end all that mattered to Joan was becoming an instrument in God's providential plan. Joan could have chosen the easy path and pushed aside her visions but she was convinced that she was chosen to see this plan to full fruition.France would be saved by a young peasant girl who made the choice to follow God and leave all behind.
I would reccomend this book for anyone to read. Its interesting and you learn a lot about Saint Joan. Four stars because it was a bit confusing with lots of different nobels and knights running around. But other than that, Good book!!
My 10 year old son and I are both reading this book for a special report he has to do. It came to me brand new and I found it easy to read for my son. It's very informative and has some excitment in it too to keep my son's attention. As for me, I think it's a great book.
Interesting story about medieval France. I had not been reminded of the story of St. Joan of Arc since grade school English class and it then was not told in the context of the Hundred Years War, so this book, and beautiful scenic France I'm seeing while watching the Tour de France bicycle race has refreshed my interest in French/British history.
I loved the book on many occasions. Not only did it obviously withhold biblical meanings, it also kept a realistic war based plot to it. I would highly recommend this book if you need to do a Christian biography book report, or any biography report in that matter. My only hindrance to giving this five stars is that I felt there was a bit too much information. As silly as it sounds, since I throughly believe knowledge is great in greater servings, I just felt like sometimes it would shimmy away from Joan and onto other things that I could understand the story without.
It's a decent read, but mostly about the various battles and military personnel involved. Not much insight on Joan the person.
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