Lewis, C. S. (1898-1963), a British author, wrote more than 30 books, including children’s stories, science fiction, and literary and religious works. Most of his writings teach moral lessons. After years of experiencing religious doubt, he converted to Christianity in the 1930’s. Lewis then became a leading defender of Christianity.
Lewis taught medieval literature at Oxford University from 1925 to 1954 and at Cambridge University from 1954 to 1963. In his first important work of literary criticism, The Allegory of Love (1936), Lewis examined the theme of love in medieval literature. His first science-fiction novel, Out of the Silent Planet (1938), tells of three scientists who travel to Mars and find strange creatures living there. Lewis’s most popular religious work, The Screwtape Letters (1942), is a witty satire in which an old devil advises a young devil. His other books on religion include The Problem of Pain (1940), The Abolition of Man (1943), and Mere Christianity (1952), all written in the same suave, witty, and colorful style that characterizes his fiction and his literary criticism.
From 1950 to 1956, Lewis wrote a series of seven children’s books called The Chronicles of Narnia. These books combine myth and fantasy with moral principles. See Chronicles of Narnia, The.
Clive Staples Lewis was born on Nov. 29, 1898, in Belfast, Northern Ireland. In an autobiography of his early life, Surprised by Joy (1955), Lewis discussed the development of his religious beliefs. He died on Nov. 22, 1963.
