Items from the Wish List: Hilaire Belloc

Old Thunder: A Life of Hilaire Belloc by Joseph Pearce 

Hilaire Belloc is one of the most important, revered and reviled writers of the twentieth century. A social commentator, a master of finely crafted prose and a poet of great wit, he continues to fascinate. Joseph Pearce examines the lasting impact of this prolific writer and social commentator on British intellectual life.

As President of the Oxford Union, he immersed himself in historical studies and championed Catholicism. Later, as a Liberal MP, he became disillusioned with party politics, expressing his sentiments about both socialism and capitalism in his novels and pamphlets. Considered one of the most important Christian writers of the twentieth century, admired for his understanding of modern England and in the company of men like Sassoon, G.K. Chesterton and Waugh, Belloc's fascinating character is wonderfully brought to light in all his whimsicality. Opening up the personality for the reader is the story of his long courtship of Elodie Hogan from Napa, California that overcame all sorts of hurdles, including her brief stint in a convent, and his desolation after her death.

With access to previously unpublished material in the form of Belloc's letters and photographs, Joseph Pearce's major new biography uncovers a romantic, complex, and solitary character. Illustrated. – Amazon.

The Four Men: A Farrago by Hilaire Belloc  (Author), Nathan Allen (Editor), Joseph Pearce (Introduction) 

Belloc’s “travel-farrago” is a whimsical narrative, in which four unforgettable characters walk through their native county of Sussex, to sing its songs, drink its beer, and praise it before Time changes it forever.

The Four Men offers, among other things, inns, saints, cheeses, jokes, stars, arguments, and poetry. Throughout, we find reflections on the impermanence of any earthly homeland and our deepest longing for an eternal Home.

Deacon Nathan Allen’s fascinating annotation provides added richness, helping readers to enter more fully into this unique work, which also contains some of Belloc’s own illustrations. – Amazon.

Survivals and New Arrivals: Old and New Enemies of the Catholic Church by Hilaire Belloc (Author)

Here Belloc analyzes the various intellectual attacks on the Church in the last two centuries, showing how each thrived for a time before disintegrating; then he analyzes the two ultimate enemies which we see everywhere today! Says the temporal fate of the world depends upon the health of the Catholic Church. Essential ideas to understand where we are and where we need to go from here to rebuild civilization. – Amazon.

The Great Heresies by Hilaire Belloc  (Author)

Hilaire Belloc examines the five most destructive heretical movements to have affected Christian Civilization: Arianism, Mohammedanism (Islam), Albigensianism (Cathar), The Reformation (Protestant), and “The Modern Phase.” Belloc describes how these movements began, how they spread, and how they continued to influence the world up until the time of his writing (1936). The Chapter on Islam is especially relevant in light of current events; in it Belloc accurately predicts the renewal of Jihadist aggression towards Western Civilization. – Amazon.

Hilaire Belloc by A. N Wilson  (Author)