About C.S. LEWIS

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Clive Staples Lewis (1898–1963) was one of the intellectual giants of the twentieth century and arguably one of the most influential writers of his day. He was a Fellow and Tutor in English Literature at Oxford University until 1954, when he was unanimously elected to the Chair of Medieval and Renaissance Literature at Cambridge University, a position he held until his retirement.

Lewis wrote more than thirty books, allowing him to reach a vast audience, and his works continue to attract thousands of new readers every year. C. S. Lewis’s most distinguished and popular accomplishments include Mere Christianity, Out of the Silent Planet, The Great Divorce, The Screwtape Letters, and the universally acknowledged classics in The Chronicles of Narnia. To date, the Narnia books have sold over 100 million copies and been transformed into three major motion pictures.

EXPLORE THE C.S. LEWIS TIMELINE

  • November 29, 1898:

    Clive Staple Lewis born in Belfast, Ireland.

  • August 23, 1908:

    Lewis’s mother, Florence Augusta (‘Flora’) Hamilton Lewis, dies.

  • September 18, 1908

    Sent to the Wynyard School in Watford, Hertfordshire, England.

  • September 1910:

    Enrolls as boarding student at Campbell College, Belfast, Ireland; leaves in December due to respiratory problems.

  • September 1911:

    Enrolls at Cherboug House near Malvern College, England; abandons his Christian faith.

  • April 1914:

    Meets Arthur Greeves, who becomes a lifelong friend.

  • September 19, 1914:

    Is privately tutored by W. T. "The Great Knock" Kirkpatrick.

  • December 1916:

    Receives a scholarship to University College, Oxford.

  • June 8, 1917:

    Enlists in British Army.

  • April 1918:

    Lewis’s close friend Paddy Moore reported killed in battle.

  • April 15, 1918:

    Wounded in Battle of Arras.

  • December, 1918:

    Discharged from British Army.

  • 1919:

    Moves in with Moore’s mother, Mrs Janie King Moore, and sister, Maureen.

  • May 20, 1919
    Spirits in Bondage

    Publishes Spirits in Bondage under the pseudonym Clive Hamilton.

  • May 20, 1925:

    Appointed English Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford, where he tutors English Language and Literature.

  • May 11, 1926:

    Meets friend and colleague J.R.R. Tolkien.

  • September 20, 1926:
    Dymer under the pseudonym Clive Hamilton.

    Publishes Dymer under the pseudonym Clive Hamilton.

  • September 24, 1929:

    Lewis’s father, Albert Lewis, dies in Belfast.

  • 1929:

    Abandons atheism and converts to theism.

  • October 11, 1930:

    Lewis, the Moores, and later Warren, Lewis's brother, move into "The Kilns".

  • September 1931:

    Converts to Christianity.

  • May 25, 1933:
    The Pilgrim’s Regress

    Publishes The Pilgrim’s Regress.

  • May 21, 1936:
    Allegory of Love

    Publishes The Allegory of Love.Buy this book

  • September 23, 1938:
    Out of the Silent Planet.

    Publishes the first novel in the Space Trilogy series, Out of the Silent Planet.Buy this book

  • April 25, 1940:

    Weekly meetings of the "Inklings" begin.

  • October 18, 1940:
    The Problem of Pain

    Publishes The Problem of Pain.Buy this book

  • August 1941:
    Mere Christianity

    Begins war-time broadcast talks on Christianity, later collected as Mere Christianity.Buy this book

  • January 26, 1942:

    Attends the first meeting of Oxford University's Socratic Club.

  • February 9, 1942:
    The Screwtape Letters

    Publishes The Screwtape Letters.Buy this book

  • July 13, 1942:
    broadcast Talks

    Publishes Broadcast Talks, based on BBC recordings.

  • October 8, 1942:
    Paradise Lost

    Publishes A Preface to Paradise Lost.

  • January 6, 1943:
    The Abolition of Man

    Publishes The Abolition of Man.Buy this book

  • April 19, 1943:
    Christian Behavior

    Publishes Christian Behaviour, based on BBC recordings.

  • April 20, 1943:
    Perelandra

    Publishes the second novel in the Space Trilogy series, Perelandra.Buy this book

  • October 9, 1944:
    Beyond Personality

    Publishes Beyond Personality, based on BBC recordings.

  • August 16, 1945:
    That Hideous Strength

    Publishes the third novel in the Space Trilogy series, That Hideous Strength.Buy this book

  • January 14, 1946:
    The Great Divorce

    Publishes The Great Divorce.Buy this book

  • June 28, 1946:

    Awarded an honorary Doctor of Divinity by the University of St. Andrews.

  • May 12, 1947:
    Miracles

    Publishes Miracles.Buy this book

  • September 8, 1947:

    Appears on the cover of Time magazine.

  • 1948:

    Elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

  • September 13, 1949:
    The Weight of Glory and Other Addresses.

    Publishes The Weight of Glory and Other Addresses.Buy this book

  • October 16, 1950:
    The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe

    Publishes the first novel in the Chronicles of Narnia series, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.Buy this book

  • January 12, 1951

    Mrs. Moore dies.

  • October 15, 1951:
    Prince Casbian

    Publishes the second novel in the Chronicles of Narnia series, Prince Caspian: The Return to Narnia.Buy this book

  • July 7, 1952:
    Mere Christianity

    Publishes Mere Christianity, which combines previously published Broadcast Talks (1942), Christian Behavior (1943), and Beyond Personality (1944).Buy this book

  • September 15, 1952:
    in the Chronicles of Narnia series, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.

    Publishes the third novel in the Chronicles of Narnia series, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.Buy this book

  • September 7, 1953:
    The Silver Chair

    Publishes the fourth novel in the Chronicles of Narnia series, The Silver Chair.Buy this book

  • 1954:

    Becomes chair of Medieval and Renaissance Literature at Cambridge.

  • September 6, 1954:
    The Horse and His Boy

    Publishes the fifth novel in the Chronicles of Narnia series, The Horse and His Boy.Buy this book

  • September 16, 1954:
    English Literature in the Sixteenth Century.

    Publishes English Literature in the Sixteenth Century.

  • May 2, 1955:
    The Magician's Nephew

    Publishes the sixth novel in the Chronicles of Narnia series, The Magician’s Nephew.Buy this book

  • September 19, 1955:
    Surprised By Joy

    Publishes Surprised By Joy.Buy this book

  • March 19, 1956:
    The Last Battle

    Publishes the seventh, and final, novel in the Chronicles of Narnia series, The Last Battle.Buy this book

  • April 23, 1956:

    Marries Joy Davidman Gresham.

  • September 10, 1956:
    Till We Have faces

    Publishes Till We Have Faces.Buy this book

  • September 8, 1958:
    Reflections on the psalms

    Publishes Reflections on the Psalms.Buy this book

  • June 1959:

    Becomes, with T. S. Eliot, a member of the Commission to Revise the Psalter.

  • March 28, 1960:
    Publishes The Four Loves

    Publishes The Four Loves.Buy this book

  • July 13, 1960:

    Lewis’s wife dies.

  • September 9, 1960:
    Studies in Words

    Publishes Studies in Words.Buy this book

  • June 1961:

    Diagnosed with kidney inflammation.

  • September 29, 1961:
    A Grief Observed

    Publishes A Grief Observed under the pseudonym N. W. Clerk.Buy this book

  • October 13, 1961:
    An Experiment in Criticism

    Publishes An Experiment in Criticism.Buy this book

  • November 22, 1963:

    Dies.

  • January 27, 1964:
    Letters to Malcolm

    Posthumously publishes Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer.Buy this book

  • May 7, 1964:
    The Discarded image

    Posthumously publishes The Discarded Image.Buy this book

  • June 9, 1966:
    Studies in Medieval and Renaissance Literature

    Posthumously publishes Studies in Medieval and Renaissance Literature.Buy this book