Free Download

Download 'Too Hot', an exclusive Specials track from iTunes

Navigation - link to other main sections from here

Skip Navigation

From The Times
January 5, 2008

C. S. Lewis

The 50 greatest postwar writers: 11

Do you agree with the selection? Click here and post your comments

He once quipped that “any amount of theology can now be smuggled into people’s minds under cover of romance”. But although Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia are imbued with Christian allegory, the seven books are far more fantastical than the purely religious realms to which they are sometimes confined. Lewis was gripped by mythology from childhood, and the effect of his conversion to Christianity, at the age of 33, was more directly addressed through his prolific apologetic writings and adult fiction. Born in Belfast in 1898, he hated England at first, but became Professor of English at Oxford and a member of the Inklings, the literary group that included his close friend Tolkien. Best known today as a children’s author, his academic treatises and adult fiction (The Screwtape Letters, The Great Divorce) are equally enduring.

One to read: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (1950)

More about C. S. Lewis

Listen to the only surviving footage of Lewis's broadcast talks on the BBC

The Chronicle of the Oxford University C. S. Lewis Society

See the full top 50 list here

Print
Email
Bookmark and Share

Also in Books

Also in Arts & Entertainment

Download free comic

Razorjack

Razorjack: evil has never been so fun

The sci-fi thriller from 2000AD artist John Higgins

Review

Best selling author Stephenie Meyer

Stephenie Meyer's The Host

Adult fiction debut with all the sexual tension of Twilight

video: lunar gadgets

Edwin ’Buzz’ Aldrin photographed by Neil Armstrong

Gadgets on the moon

Can you guess what these objects were used for?

Bestsellers

Festival countdown

The multicoloured socks of Cheltenham Literature Festival attendee Kate Sharpe dangle over a pile of hardbacks

24 Essential Festivals

The best literary events this summer

School Gate

ELMER

20 years of Elmer

The creator of the patchwork elephant (and Mr Benn) talks to School Gate

Times Literary Supplement

Gone with the Wind

Scarlett O'Hara on set

How Margaret Mitchell, David O. Selznick and Vivien Leigh shaped Gone with the Wind, a most dubious Hollywood classic

A century after Swinburne

Atheist, philhellene, prophet of sexual revolution, Algernon Swinburne was also a master-metrician and a pioneering critic

Content recommendations by Evri.com

Most Read

Skip Most Read

Today

MOST COMMENTED

Skip Editor's Pick

Today

MOST CURIOUS

Skip Most Curious

Today

Focus Zone

Angel of the north

Northern Lights:

Win a luxury weekend to Newcastle and its neighbour Gateshead, find out more here

BT

Business Solutions:

Risk, resilience and embracing new technology

accenture

Need to Know:

Industry sectors news at a glance. Interactive heatmap, video and podcast

Cisco

Business Wisdom:

Discover the power of collective thinking. Submit a solution and be in with a chance to win a Media Hub Home Entertainment System

Social Entrepreneur

Social Entrepreneurs:

The inside track on current trends in the charity, not for profit and social enterprise sectors

ba business travel clouds

Business Travel:

Everything the Business Traveller needs to know to make a better trip

rowing boats

Great British Summer :

Make the most of the summer and enter our fabulous photographic competition, you could win a £5000 holiday

Corsica

Corsica Travel:

Corsica is an island of beauty and contrast, an ideal holiday destination

More Reports

More reports:

Enjoy further reading from Travel to Fashion, Business to Sport, discover more

previous next
Nintendo DS

Ad feature

100 Classic Books

More than a novel idea

The Times Health Club

Improve your diet

Tips on how to eat healthily

BT Podcasts

Related Report

Leading Voices

Today's business issues

The Times Health Club

Time to get fit?

Track your fitness goals together with other members

Man with Confidential Papers

Ad Feature

Business Security

Get adequate protection

Restaurant Booking

Search by:

View special offers

Popular Searches on Times Online

bollywood news | britain's got talent | chess | dating | fashion | Michael Jackson | mortgages | movie trailers | music | podcasts | recipes | redundancy | savings | slumdog millionaire | star trek | sudoku | twilight | university guide | wine

Shortcuts to help you find sections and articles

Classifieds 

Cars

Skip Cars of the Week

Car leasing


The clever way to lease a new car is with Car leasing made simple™

New Audi A5 Coupe from £399.99 inc VAT

2009
per month on 36-month
Personal Contract Hire (PCH)

Jobs

Skip Jobs of the Week
Intelligence Analyst

£24,250 - £30,346
MI5
London

Finance & Corporate Services Manager

£60,000
The Environment Agency
Bristol

Programme Manager

Up to £90K
Boots
Midlands

Sales Professionals

OTE £85k
Credit Protection Association
Nationwide Opportunities

Properties

Rushmore Condo's

Luxury Condo's in Manhattan with NYC views

Diadem Homes

The best new homes in Wimbledon?

Holidays

Skip Travel of the Week

Virgin Atlantic 2009 Cruise Deals

Fabulous Cruise And Cruise & Stay Offers Including Virgin Atlantic Flights Prices Start From Only £699pp!


Amazing Cruise Deals With Virgin Holidays Cruises

Last Minute Cruise And Cruise & Stay Offers. Med From £499pp, Caribbean From £699pp!


5 * Moscow break from £499 pp inc flights

5 star quality at a 3 star price.


Canada for Less.. fly from £129 one way inc taxes

8 fabulous Canadian cities ...you won’t find cheaper


Place your advert now