101 More Hymns provides not only the histories of by-gone hymn authors and composers. It provides the complete sheet music. Some of these hymns are not found in the current hymn books. This is an excellent resource for anyone interested in older hymns and hymn histories. My children highly recommend this book as does as their mother.

Osbeck goes a great job bringing forth the people, musicians and stories behind classic hymns. Like Amazing Grace, he features many of my favorite and well known hymns. It's interesting to read about the composers motivation and to see the actual musical score.

The ultimate hymn story resource- has almost hymns form every tradition. Must read! Only thing you might want is a volume 2!

Kenneth Osbeck has compiled a collection of background stories on some wonderful hymns. In reading the story as well as the accompanying Bible verses, you get a solid sense of the message that the hymn is trying to convey. This is a great devotional book, whether you're familiar with these hymns or not. You don't have to be a musician or even know the hymns really well to enjoy this book.

This devotional is unique because it gives the hymn's author and composer and some encouraging background information. I read it to my wife in the morning, and then we sing the hymn if we know it, then read the Scripture portions and then I pray. What a glorious way to begin the day. I highly recommend it.

I was disapointed. One of the reveiws said the book had all the verses and it doesn't. I am looking for Hymn History with all the verses. Some or many hymns have 10-15 verses. This book does not show them.

This is a great book if you want to know the story behind your favorite hymns. It is always enjoyable to know why particular lyrics and music were written! Osbeck does great research and it is not disappointing.

What a blessing to find this book! I was looking for reference material in order to teach the history of hymns to the children's choir at my church and found this treasure.

Everything is in one place - the words and music, the Scripture reference(s) and a detailed account of how the words and music came to be written and by whom. The children (as well as myself) were amazed to find out what songs were hundreds of years old or only 50 years old and how they are used still today.

My copy is currently being used as reference material by my pastor to share with our congregation in a series on the history of our favorite traditional hymns.

This book is also excellent entertainment/historical reading.

I'm very grateful for its being written and highly recommended it.

This is written more for reader's theater than in performance style. So unless you're very creative and can re-write, I would pass. This would be good for Sunday School lessons where you can go right to the appropriate verses to follow up. Not the best for just performance.

The book is split into 26 Old Testament and 26 New Testament monologues. There are parts for 18 women and 34 men. Each drama has Scriptural references, reflections, and suggested hymns to go along with it. Some characters don't seem to be fleshed out very well, but with a bit of personalization from the individual actor, they work well. For the most part, it's a great resource.

This book is wonderful if you are interested in learning bible characters in a quick and fun fashion. Each character is described in a short story manner -quick and to the point, and you learn how bible characters are related/connected to each other. Excellent for teaching children and adults. I am a pastors wife and I found this book as an excellent resource to learning bible characters like the back of your hand.

Wonderful book. Easy to read.

I was a little disappointed by this book. The subtitle says "The Stories Behind Your Favorite Christmas Carols". However, these tales are so short they really aren't stories and are mere ancedotes. There are a few interesting facts one can learn, but for the most part this book is a let down because it doesn't live up to it's title.

I ordered three books: Christmas Songs in America, Joy to the World! and Stories Behind the Best-Loved Songs of Christmas. Of the three Joy to the World! had the shortest descriptions and therefore was the least helpful to me. However, it did include eight songs not found in Stories behind the Best-Loved Songs.