But Stott was not one to tell his readers much about his personal life, and that is why perhaps there are already two biographies of Stott (and he’s still alive, though very frail). The newest one is for those who love Stott and for those who need to know about Stott and don’t know much about him, and I can’t recommend it more: Basic Christian: The Inside Story of John Stott
.

Preachers need this biography because they need nectar from one who has preached weekly for years. I would also urge seminarians today to purchase and read this book, and I say this because this book will give them a handle for why 50 and 60somethings think the way they do.

The signal contribution of this biography is its focus on the inner fabric of the story connected to the life of John Stott. It’s not just the facts; its the use of those facts in formulating what he was like, what he was doing, and what was being accomplished. Timothy Dudley-Smith’s two volume set (John Stott: The Making of a Leader : A Biography : The Early Years
and John Stott: A Global Ministry: A Biography of the Later Years, Vol. 2
) will always be the massive collection of facts, but I suspect Steer’s will become the pastor’s favorite.

Here you will learn about his secretary, Frances Whitehead, and about The Hookses, his retreat place where he did much of his writing and thinking, and about where and how he wrote his books, and then through it all his speaking and continued development of a global outreach and exposition of Scripture. Including his incredible ministry through Urbana. The story includes his conflicts with Martin Lloyd-Jones and Billy Graham … 

A great book. Buy it.