Chapter I Childhood and Poverty Chapter II Salvation in Youth Chapter III Lay Ministry Chapter IV Early Ministry Chapter V Fight Against Formality Chapter VI Revivalism Chapter VII East London Beginning Chapter VIII Army-making Chapter IX Army Leading Chapter X Desperate Fighting Chapter XI Reproducing The Army in America Chapter XII In Australasia Chapter XIII Women and Scandinavia Chapter XIV Children Conquerors in Holland and Elsewhere Chapter XV India and Devotees Chapter XVI South Africa and Colonisation Chapter XVII Japanese Heroism Chapter XVIII Co-operating With Governments Chapter XIX Conquering Death Chapter XX His Social Work Chapter XXI Motoring Triumphs Chapter XXII Our Financial System Chapter XXIII In Germany In Old Age Chapter XXIV The End Chapter XXV Tributes Chapter XXVI Organisation Chapter XXVII The Spirit of The Army Chapter XXVIII The General as a Writer Important Events Connected with The General's Life and Work Illustrations William Booth Catherine Booth General Bramwell Booth Mrs. Bramwell Booth Emma Booth Tucker Commander Miss Booth Autograph Page The Authoritative Life of General William Booth Founder of The Salvation Army Chapter I Childhood and Poverty William Booth was born in Nottingham, England, on April 10, 1829, and was left, at thirteen, the only son of a widowed and impoverished mother. His father had been one of those builders of houses who so rapidly rose in those days to wealth, but who, largely employing borrowed capital, often found themselves in any time of general scarcity reduced to poverty. I glory in the fact that The General's ancestry has never been traced, so far as I know, beyond his grandfather. I will venture to say, however, that his forefathers fought with desperation against somebody at least a thousand years ago. Fighting is an inveterate habit of ours in England, and another renowned general has just been recommending all young men to learn to shoot. The constant joy and pride with which our General always spoke of his mother is a tribute to her excellence, as well as the best possible record of his own earliest days. Of her he wrote, in 1893:-- "I had a good mother. So good she has ever appeared to me that I have often said that all I knew of her life seemed a striking contradiction of the doctrine of human depravity. In my youth I fully accepted that doctrine, and I do not deny it now; but my patient, self-sacrificing mother always appeared to be an exception to the rule.