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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
Clive Staple Lewis born in Belfast, Ireland.
Lewis’s mother, Florence Augusta (‘Flora’) Hamilton Lewis, dies.
Sent to the Wynyard School in Watford, Hertfordshire, England.
Enrolls as boarding student at Campbell College, Belfast, Ireland; leaves in December due to respiratory problems.
Enrolls at Cherboug House near Malvern College, England; abandons his Christian faith.
Meets Arthur Greeves, who becomes a lifelong friend.
Is privately tutored by W. T. "The Great Knock" Kirkpatrick.
Receives a scholarship to University College, Oxford.
Enlists in British Army.
Lewis’s close friend Paddy Moore reported killed in battle.
Wounded in Battle of Arras.
Discharged from British Army.
Moves in with Moore’s mother, Mrs Janie King Moore, and sister, Maureen.
Publishes Spirits in Bondage under the pseudonym Clive Hamilton.
Appointed English Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford, where he tutors English Language and Literature.
Meets friend and colleague J.R.R. Tolkien.
Publishes Dymer under the pseudonym Clive Hamilton.
Abandons atheism and converts to theism.
Lewis’s father, Albert Lewis, dies in Belfast.
Lewis, the Moores, and later Warren, Lewis's brother, move into "The Kilns".
Converts to Christianity.
Publishes The Pilgrim’s Regress.
Publishes The Allegory of Love.Buy this book
Publishes the first novel in the Space Trilogy series, Out of the Silent Planet.Buy this book
Weekly meetings of the "Inklings" begin.
Publishes The Problem of Pain.Buy this book
Begins war-time broadcast talks on Christianity, later collected as Mere Christianity.Buy this book
Attends the first meeting of Oxford University's Socratic Club.
Publishes The Screwtape Letters.Buy this book
Publishes Broadcast Talks, based on BBC recordings.
Publishes A Preface to Paradise Lost.
Publishes The Abolition of Man.Buy this book
Publishes Christian Behaviour, based on BBC recordings.
Publishes the second novel in the Space Trilogy series, Perelandra.Buy this book
Publishes Beyond Personality, based on BBC recordings.
Publishes the third novel in the Space Trilogy series, That Hideous Strength.Buy this book
Publishes The Great Divorce.Buy this book
Awarded an honorary Doctor of Divinity by the University of St. Andrews.
Publishes Miracles.Buy this book
Appears on the cover of Time magazine.
Elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.
Publishes The Weight of Glory and Other Addresses.Buy this book
Publishes the first novel in the Chronicles of Narnia series, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.Buy this book
Mrs. Moore dies.
Publishes the second novel in the Chronicles of Narnia series, Prince Caspian: The Return to Narnia.Buy this book
Publishes Mere Christianity, which combines previously published Broadcast Talks (1942), Christian Behavior (1943), and Beyond Personality (1944).Buy this book
Publishes the third novel in the Chronicles of Narnia series, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.Buy this book
Publishes the fourth novel in the Chronicles of Narnia series, The Silver Chair.Buy this book
Becomes chair of Medieval and Renaissance Literature at Cambridge.
Publishes the fifth novel in the Chronicles of Narnia series, The Horse and His Boy.Buy this book
Publishes English Literature in the Sixteenth Century.
Publishes the sixth novel in the Chronicles of Narnia series, The Magician’s Nephew.Buy this book
Publishes Surprised By Joy.Buy this book
Publishes the seventh, and final, novel in the Chronicles of Narnia series, The Last Battle.Buy this book
Marries Joy Davidman Gresham.
Publishes Till We Have Faces.Buy this book
Publishes Reflections on the Psalms.Buy this book
Becomes, with T. S. Eliot, a member of the Commission to Revise the Psalter.
Publishes The Four Loves.Buy this book
Lewis’s wife dies.
Publishes Studies in Words.Buy this book
Diagnosed with kidney inflammation.
Publishes A Grief Observed under the pseudonym N. W. Clerk.Buy this book
Publishes An Experiment in Criticism.Buy this book
Dies.
Posthumously publishes Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer.Buy this book
Posthumously publishes The Discarded Image.Buy this book
Posthumously publishes Studies in Medieval and Renaissance Literature.Buy this book