The Lion of Judah in Never-Never Land

This was the very first celebration of the Chronicles of Narnia (begun in 1955, before the final volume was published), and is still the only one of its kind. Furthermore, it is the only book about himself and his writing that C. S. Lewis ever praised.

Magdalene College
University of Cambridge

Oct 29th,1957

Your thesis arrived yesterday and I read it at once. You are in the center of the target everywhere. For one thing, you know my work better than anyone else I've met; certainly better than I do myself. (I've no recollection whatever of The World's Last Night and can't imagine what it was about!) But secondly you (alone of the critics I've met) realize the connection or even the unity of all the books--scholarly, fantastic, theological--and make me appear a single author not a man who impersonates half a dozen authors which is what I seem to most. This wins really very high marks indeed. . . .

If you understand me so well you will understand other authors too. I hope we shall have some really useful critical works from your hand.

With thanks and good wishes.

Yours sincerely

C. S. Lewis

The book was completed in 1957, but it was never submitted to a publisher until 1973, when Eerdmans saw it and published it. The preface was written then by Walter Hooper. The introductory chapter is called Making Pictures. The three main chapters are Spoiled Goodness: Lewis's Concept of Nature, The Coming of the Lion: Lewis's Concept of God, and Possible Gods and Goddesses: Lewis's Concept of Man. The concluding chapter is called Weaving a Spell.

"An excellent exposition of the sinewy theology that underlies the Narnia tales."
--Edmund Fuller in THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

"For the main books on the Chronicles of Narnia we can start with Kathryn Lindskoog... Lindskoog's success is in enriching and deepening our understanding of the implications of the Narnia stories.... she shows how the books are part of a far larger fabric of imagery and idea.... It is small wonder that C. S. Lewis valued this book."

--Colin Manlove, University of Edinburgh, in his book The Chronicles of Narnia in Twayne's Masterwork Studies (1993).

Books by Kathryn Lindskoog: