Alexandra Coghlan

The popularity of ‘Amazing Grace’ owes much to its melody

The song has evolved from Christian hymn to secular anthem for humankind. But the powerful tune we know today was not its original one

John Newton, the captain of slave ships who became an evangelical cleric and wrote the words of ‘Amazing Grace’ [Alamy]
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  • Amazing Grace: A Cultural History of the Beloved Hymn

    James Walvin

    University of California Press, pp. 216, £16

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