THE life and work of Christian evangelist George Muller inspired a Malvern author's new book.

Clive Langmead's biography Robber Of The Cruel Streets fondly remembers the man who cared for and educated more than 100,000 orphans before he died in 1898.

Mr Langmead will be signing copies when he launches the book at the Lyttelton Well bookshop, in Church Street, from 10am tomorrow (Saturday.)

The book tells how after a troubled childhood and imprisonment for fraud at 16, Muller turned to the Bible and dedicated his life to helping others.

Mr Langmead, a former BBC television producer, is no stranger to biography writing, but said he found this book particularly interesting.

"I spent six months working basically 24/7 researching and writing the book," he said. "Even after that I'm hugely enthusiastic about the subject matter. Muller was a just a fascinating character to write about."

One of the challenges Mr Langmead faced was adjusting his style for a fully illustrated book. "I'd never written around so many pictures before," he said. "I had to be concious when writing of what the picture on the opposite page would be. I enjoyed it though."

The book, published by CWR, costs £9.99. A companion film is available priced £14.99 (DVD) and £11.99 (video).