author
George Bethune English
1787–1828
An early American traveler, polemicist, and soldier, this restless figure led a life that crossed from Harvard and religious controversy to military service in the Middle East. His work still stands out for its unusual mix of scholarship, argument, and firsthand adventure.
4 Audiobooks
A Narrative of the Expedition to Dongola and Sennaar Under the Command of His Excellence Ismael Pasha, undertaken by Order of His Highness Mehemmed Ali Pasha, Viceroy of Egypt, By An American In The Service Of The Viceroy
by George Bethune English
Five Pebbles from the Brook
by George Bethune English
The Grounds of Christianity Examined by Comparing The New Testament with the Old
by George Bethune English
About the author
Born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1787, George Bethune English studied at Harvard and first drew notice as a writer on religion. He became known for challenging orthodox Christian doctrine in print, especially in The Grounds of Christianity Examined, a book that stirred strong debate in the early nineteenth century.
His life then took a remarkable turn. English traveled in the Mediterranean world and entered the service of Muhammad Ali of Egypt, where he worked as both a soldier and an envoy. That experience fed his later travel writing, which gave American readers a vivid look at places and political worlds they were unlikely to know firsthand.
He died in 1828, still relatively young, after a career that was anything but ordinary. Today he is remembered less as a conventional man of letters than as an adventurous, controversial writer whose books connect early American intellectual life with a much wider world.