I was asked by Evangelical Times to review this book and here is my response.

By any definition, this is a remarkable account of a truly remarkable life; a life lived to the full and for the glory of God.

The story of Macgregor’s life starts off in as dramatic a way as it continues with a lengthy firsthand account, written by his own father, of a sea journey the family were taking from England to India when John was just a baby. The ship caught fire, necessitating the dramatic rescue of many on board, including the Macgregors, but resulting in the loss of nearly 100 lives. Macgregor, who was nicknamed after his illustrious ancestor, was an athlete and adventurer, a lawyer and a leader among men, but that hardly does justice to all the ways in which his abilities could be described.

He was a man who, when he saw a need, did everything he could to address it, either supporting others, or, more often than not, starting his own organisation. Agencies well known to us, like the Lawyers Christian Fellowship and the Open Air Mission, to name but two, owe their origins to Macgregor. He was personally acquainted with the likes of Spurgeon, Livingstone and Shaftesbury but was deeply moved by the plight of poverty stricken children in UK and overseas and did what he could to improve their lives. As his biographer Norman Hopkins makes clear, this was “a life of spiritual devotion and practical usefulness.”  But what is equally remarkable is that this life is largely forgotten today, so get a copy of this page-turner of a book and help to rectify that situation.

John ‘Rob Roy’ MacGregor by Norman L Hopkins

Day One 238 pages

For the purpose of review, I received a complimentary copy of the book from the Evangelical Times. I was under no obligation to write a positive review.