Compelling and definitive portrait of the life of C. S. Lewis to mark the 50th anniversary of his death.
Alister McGrath is Professor of Theology, Ministry and Education at King's College London, and head of its Centre for Theology, Religion, and Culture. He is also Senior Research Fellow at Harris Manchester College, Oxford, and President of the Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics. After initial academic work in the natural sciences, Alister turned to the study of theology and intellectual history, while occasionally becoming engaged in broader cultural debates about the rationality and relevance of the Christian faith. He is the author of many academic and theological works, as well as the bestselling THE DAWKINS DELUSION.
To the question of whether the world really needs another biography of C. S. Lewis, McGrath's lucid and unsentimental portrait of the Christian champion responds with a resounding "yes." The year 2013 marks the 50th anniversary of Lewis's death, and times have changed and evangelical sentiments have matured. McGrath offers a new and at times shocking look into the complicated life of this complex figure, in a deeply researched biography. The author takes us headlong into the heart of a Lewis we've known little about: his unconventional affair with Mrs. Jane Moore; his hostile and deceptive relationship with his father; his curiosity about the sensuality of cruelty. McGrath navigates the reader through these messy themes, ultimately landing us onto the solid ground of Lewis's postconversion legacy. He shows with skill, sympathy, dispassion, and engaging prose that Lewis, like the rest of us, did the best he could with the hand he was dealt. But he got over it, as must all those who would prefer a Lewis without shadows. - Publishers Weekly, starred reviewMany of us thought we knew most of what there was to know about C. S. Lewis. Alister McGrath's new biography makes use of archives and other material that clarify, deepen and further explain the many sides of one of Christianity's most remarkable apologists. This is a penetrating and illuminating study. - N. T. WrightAli
So many biographies of C.S. Lewis are available that one might wonder whether this latest is needed. However, McGrath's (theology & ministry, King's Coll. London; The Dawkins Delusion) C.S. Lewis is unique in a few ways. First, it is written by a major theologian who can provide excellent insights into Lewis's thought. Second, it utilizes the revised and enlarged edition of Lewis's collected letters, an expansive edition available only in the past decade. Third, it contains new thoughts on Lewis's life, such as a different date for his conversion to Christianity, based on a careful reading of primary sources, and discussion of how Lewis's letters show that he could compartmentalize some experiences, while others tormented him; he stated that his difficult school years were worse than serving as a frontline infantryman in World War I. McGrath furthermore writes an accessible biography, with a chronological narrative followed by discussion of Lewis's "afterlife," addressing how interest in Lewis has heightened from the 1970s or 1980s to the present. VERDICT Both general readers and scholars interested in Lewis will find this book very helpful.-John Jaeger, Dallas Baptist Univ. Lib., TX (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
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