Charles Williams

This is the first full biography of Charles Williams (1886-1945), an extraordinary and controversial figure who was a central member of the Inklings—the group of Oxford writers that included C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. Charles Williams—novelist, poet, theologian, magician and guru—was the strangest, most multi-talented, and most controversial member of the group. He was a pioneering fantasy writer, who still has a cult following. C.S. Lewis thought his poems on King Arthur and the Holy Grail were among the best poetry of the twentieth century for 'the soaring and gorgeous novelty of their technique, and their profound wisdom'. But Williams was full of contradictions. An influential theologian, Williams was also deeply involved in the occult, experimenting extensively with magic, practising erotically-tinged rituals, and acquiring a following of devoted disciples. Membership of the Inklings, whom he joined at the outbreak of the Second World War, was only the final phase in a remarkable career. From a poor background in working-class London, Charles Williams rose to become an influential publisher, a successful dramatist, and an innovative literary critic. His friends and admirers included T.S. Eliot, W.H. Auden, Dylan Thomas, and the young Philip Larkin. A charismatic personality, he held left-wing political views, and believed that the Christian churches had dangerously undervalued sexuality. To redress the balance, he developed a 'Romantic Theology', aiming at an approach to God through sexual love. He became the most admired lecturer in wartime Oxford, influencing a generation of young writers before dying suddenly at the height of his powers. This biography draws on a wealth of documents, letters and private papers, many never before opened to researchers, and on more than twenty interviews with people who knew Williams. It vividly recreates the bizarre and dramatic life of this strange, uneasy genius, of whom Eliot wrote, 'For him there was no frontier between the material and the spiritual world.'

This is the first full biography of Charles Williams (1886-1945), an extraordinary and controversial figure who was a central member of the Inklings—the group of Oxford writers that included C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. Charles Williams—novelist, poet, theologian, magician and guru—was the strangest, most multi-talented, and most controversial member of the group. He was a pioneering fantasy writer, who still has a cult following. C.S. Lewis thought his poems on King Arthur and the Holy Grail were among the best poetry of the twentieth century for 'the soaring and gorgeous novelty of their technique, and their profound wisdom'. But Williams was full of contradictions. An influential theologian, Williams was also deeply involved in the occult, experimenting extensively with magic, practising erotically-tinged rituals, and acquiring a following of devoted disciples. Membership of the Inklings, whom he joined at the outbreak of the Second World War, was only the final phase in a remarkable career. From a poor background in working-class London, Charles Williams rose to become an influential publisher, a successful dramatist, and an innovative literary critic. His friends and admirers included T.S. Eliot, W.H. Auden, Dylan Thomas, and the young Philip Larkin. A charismatic personality, he held left-wing political views, and believed that the Christian churches had dangerously undervalued sexuality. To redress the balance, he developed a 'Romantic Theology', aiming at an approach to God through sexual love. He became the most admired lecturer in wartime Oxford, influencing a generation of young writers before dying suddenly at the height of his powers. This biography draws on a wealth of documents, letters and private papers, many never before opened to researchers, and on more than twenty interviews with people who knew Williams. It vividly recreates the bizarre and dramatic life of this strange, uneasy genius, of whom Eliot wrote, 'For him there was no frontier between the material and the spiritual world.'

“I have just read your “Place of the Lion” and it is to me one of the major literary events of my life … There are layers and layers–first the pleasure that any good fantasy gives me: then, what is rarely (tho’ not so very rarely) combined with this, the pleasure of a real philosophical and theological stimulus: thirdly, characters: fourthly, what I neither expected nor desired, substantial edification.” – C. S. Lewis “I want to make clear that these novels of Williams … are, first of all, very good reading. To him [Williams] the supernatural was perfectly natural, and the natural was also supernatural. And this peculiarity gave him that profound insight into Good and Evil, into the heights of Heaven and the depths of Hell, which provides both the immediate thrill, and the permanent message of novels. Williams is telling us about a world of experience known to him … he communicates this experience that he has had. Williams left behind him a considerable number of books which should endure, because there is nothing else that is like them or could take their place.” – T. S. Eliot The Novels of Charles Williams is a collection of seven gripping novels. These “supernatural thrillers” are all set in the modern world but present human life as being controlled by unseen powers that operate at another level. In this respect, they are very similar to the Harry Potter series. The reader is shown that the supernatural is, in fact, perfectly natural, and exerts an influence on every aspect of our daily existence. On one level, these novels are gripping stories, but at another, they are a unique blend of fantasy, theology, morality and the supernatural which has not been surpassed, and which leave a deep impression on the reader. Charles Williams was physically frail and for financial reasons never attended university; however, he had a vivid imagination and an inquiring mind. He was always interested in books, and after school he started life packing books but rose to be a proof-reader and then an editor at Oxford University Press; he was appointed a lecturer at Oxford University, and was even awarded an honorary M.A. by the university. As an author he was very versatile, writing novels, plays, poetry, popular theology, and academic works on literature. He was one of the “Inklings”, a group that included C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien. One can see his influence on Lewis and Tolkien. Williams is most remembered for his novels. This edition contains the five novels War in Heaven, Many Dimensions, The Place of the Lion, Shadows of Ecstasy, and Descent into Hell, and also the short story, Et in Sempiternum Pereant, which features the protagonist of Many Dimensions.

“I have just read your“Place of the Lion”and it is to me one of the major literary events of my life … There are layers and layers–first the pleasure that any good fantasy gives me: then, what is rarely (tho’ not so very rarely) combined with this, the pleasure of a real philosophical and theological stimulus: thirdly, characters: fourthly, what I neither expected nor desired, substantial edification.”–C. S. Lewis “I want to make clear that these novels of Williams … are, first of all, very good reading. To him [Williams] the supernatural was perfectly natural, and the natural was also supernatural. And this peculiarity gave him that profound insight into Good and Evil, into the heights of Heaven and the depths of Hell, which provides both the immediate thrill, and the permanent message of novels. Williams is telling us about a world of experience known to him … he communicates this experience that he has had. Williams left behind him a considerable number of books which should endure, because there is nothing else that is like them or could take their place.”–T. S. Eliot The Novels of Charles Williamsis a collection of seven gripping novels. These “supernatural thrillers” are all set in the modern world but present human life as being controlled by unseen powers that operate at another level. In this respect, they are very similar to theHarry Potterseries. The reader is shown that the supernatural is, in fact, perfectly natural, and exerts an influence on every aspect of our daily existence. On one level, these novels are gripping stories, but at another, they are a unique blend of fantasy, theology, morality and the supernaturalwhich has not been surpassed, and which leave a deep impression on the reader. Charles Williamswas physically frail and for financial reasons never attended university; however, he had a vivid imagination and an inquiring mind. He was always interested in books, and after school he started life packing books but rose to be a proof-reader and then an editor at Oxford University Press; he was appointed a lecturer at Oxford University, and was even awarded an honorary M.A. by the university. As an author he was very versatile, writing novels, plays, poetry, popular theology, and academic works on literature. He was one of the “Inklings”, a group that included C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien. One can see his influence on Lewis and Tolkien. Williams is most remembered for his novels. This editioncontains the fivenovelsWar in Heaven, Many Dimensions, The Place of the Lion,Shadows of Ecstasy, and Descent into Hell,and also the short story,Et in Sempiternum Pereant,which features the protagonist ofMany Dimensions.