C. S. Lewis

This is the true story of C. S. Lewis—one of the great writers of the 20th century, whose books for children and adults have become much-loved classics. Part of the story has been made famous through the film Shadowlands—here it is told in full by those who knew him personally.

C. S. Lewis was born in Belfast in 1898 and was sent to England for a public school education with his elder brother, Warren. Lewis exhibited a genius for imagination and perception from his earliest years. Brought up in a Christian household, Lewis lost his faith in his teenage years but was to regain it, with reluctance, as a fellow at Magdalen College, Oxford. His faith subsequently influenced his writings. He became a vigorous champion of the Christian faith through classics such as Mere Christianity and through his BBC broadcasts. His Chronicles of Narnia became children's classics, and he was deluged with correspondence from his young readers.

In his latter years, he unexpectedly fell deeply in love with a divorced American, Joy Gresham, and married her, only to suffer the devastation of her death a few years later. C. S. Lewis died in 1963 at his home in Oxford.

During his lifetime, he suggested to his friend, Roger Lancelyn Green, who was a fellow English scholar, that he might undertake his biography one day. After Lewis's death in 1963, Lancelyn Green and Walter Hooper were approached by several of Lewis's friends to write the biography. Warren Lewis contributed a great deal to the writing. The authors had at their disposal a vast collection of letters and diaries, as well as the recollections of many surviving family members and friends.