Narnian, The

C.S. Lewis was one of the intellectual giants of the twentieth century and arguably the most influential Christian writer of his day. Yet among his poetry, literary history and criticism, novels and Christian apologias stands a unique, delightfully imaginative children's series called The Chronicles of Narnia, which has become an enduring classic.

Alan Jacobs takes the imaginary world of Narnia, which has captivated children and adults alike for years, and uses the themes and stories found within to explore the imaginative life of Lewis. Eschewing a conventional biographical structure, Jacobs instead seeks a more elusive quarry: an understanding of the way Lewis's experiences, both direct and literary, formed themselves into themes that then shaped his thoughts and writings, especially the stories of Narnia.

It is in the Narnia stories that we see the most of C.S. Lewis, and this illuminating biography delivers a true picture of his life and imagination.

Alan Jacobs is a professor of literature at Wheaton College. He is the author of several collections of essays, including the recent Shaming the Devil: Essays in Truthtelling. A cultural critic and journalist, his work appears in such publications as First Things, Christianity Today, The Weekly Standard, Books and Culture, and The Oxford American.

"As C. S. Lewis helped make sense of so much for so many, Alan Jacobs helps make sense of C. S. Lewis. The most influential Christian apologist of the last hundred years has found a worthy biographer."

- Richard John Neuhaus, Editor-in-Chief of First Things