C. S. Lewis and the Catholic Church

Book Description

There are many Protestants and Catholics who have been deeply affected and spirituality changed by the writings of C.S. Lewis, including many converts to Catholicism who credit C.S. Lewis for playing a significant role in their conversion. But the ironic and perplexing fact is that Lewis himself, while "Catholic" in may aspects of his faith and devotion, never became a Roman Catholic. Many have wondered why.

Joseph Pearce, highly regarded literary biographer and great admirer of Lewis, is the ideal writer to try to answer that question. The relationship of Lewis to the Roman Catholic Church is an important and intriguing topic of interest to both Catholics and Protestants. Pearce delves into all the issues, questions, and factors regarding this puzzling question. He gives a broad and detailed analysis of the historical, biographical, theological, and literary pieces of this puzzle.

His findings set forth the objective shape of Lewis's theological and spiritual works in their relation to the Catholic Church. This well-written book brings new insights into a great Christian writer, and it should spark lively discussion among Lewis readers and bring about a better understanding of the spiritual beliefs of C.S. Lewis.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent.......2005-04-21

I must first begin by stating that I am reviewing from a Catholic viewpoint. I think this book should be read, however, by Protestants and Catholics alike, just as I have read Protestant material on similar subjects.
C.S. Lewis is admired by many Christians including myself, but it is interesting to see, as a high-church Anglican, why and where he drew the line between his religon and that of Roman Catholics. Looking at his literary work and that of his close friends (including J.R.R. Tolkien, the staunch Catholic), Pearce carefully and honestly examines Lewis' beleifs and clarifies his positions.
It is interesting to see how Lewis really was just a breath away from Catholic beleif, but how very important that breath is.
This book is well-researched and quite enlightening. I enjoyed it and will ceratinly be reading more of Mr. Pearce's work in the future.

Understanding Lewis.......2004-12-12

It is important to note that Lewis' conversion to Christianity in September of 1931 might not have even come about at all without the presence of an orthodox Catholic by the name of J.R.R. Tolkien. It was Tolkien and Hugo Dyson who were instrumental in persuading Lewis to see Christianity as the "True Myth". One criticism of Pearce's work by a Mr. Hutchins (in Books & Culture) erroneously asserts that Lewis recognized the supposed impossibility of creating the perfect church here on earth, and that it can only be a weak reflection of what is to come. He claims that it is foolish for any church to claim the title of the one true church. The Catholic Church, then, is condemned by Mr. Hutchins as a fraud. It is interesting to note that this view was not shared by C.S. Lewis himself. In fact, Lewis believed in Purgatory, the sacrament of confession, had concerns regarding the morality of birth control (as inferred in a letter to Mrs. Ashton on March 13, 1956), acknowledged the validity of honoring the saints (as discussed in a letter to Mrs. Arnold on June 20, 1952), and placed great significance on the sacrament of communion--referred to by Lewis himself as the "Mass" in a letter--and opposed the ordination of women as priests within the Anglican Church.

What gave Lewis trepidation concerning a move closer to the Catholic Church? While he does mention concern with certain Marian doctrines and elements of church authority,I think Joseph Pearce's insights into the man give us a distinct possibility for his inability to ford the Tiber. Based on the letters of C.S. Lewis and other writings of his, I also would suggest that verses such as Romans 14:21 played an important role. He understood that he was an important religious figure to all Christians, and he did not want to do anything to make his brother stumble, or to jeopardize the wide acceptance of his works. Our motivations for any serious undertaking are seldom black and white, but frequently of a more interwoven nature. While we can't know with any certainty what was within Lewis' heart, it is clear that his concept of faith and the church mirrored most significant aspect of the Catholic Church.

I recommend this book for anyone who wants to have a fuller understanding of Lewis' spirtual life. He takes a long look at who Lewis was and what he held true.

Different from Other Books on C. S. Lewis.......2004-05-13

Many people have had an experience of C. S. Lewis similar to mine. I have read all of his popular works - the space trilogy, Narnia, theological works, essays and letters - several times. However, I have found practically no value in books that attempt to explain Lewis. No one could make him any clearer than he already is.

Joseph Pearce's book is the first exception I have encountered. Pearce focuses on an aspect of Lewis' writing which is genuinely ambiguous - his relationship to the Catholic Church. Reared in the Ulster Protestant milieu, he had a revulsion to Roman Catholicism, which never completely left him. Yet, "papists" (e.g., Chesterton and Tolkien) played a major role in his conversion. And he embraced distinctively Catholic doctrines such as purgatory, the Blessed Sacrament and the impossibility of female priests.

Pearce asks why Lewis never became a Catholic - and whether, like many of his disciples, he would have, if he had lived longer. Although the questions cannot finally be answered, Pearce's lively attempt sheds light on a major aspect of Lewis' thought.

Terribly slipshod in places.......2004-02-06

I'll start by saying in all fairness that if I only graded based on interestingosity {g}, this book would cap five stars.

Pearce essentially engages Lewis in debate, not over whether Christianity is true, but whether Rome's Catholicism is the truest/only Christianity. Pearce as advocate for this position sometimes uses Lewis to defend this claim, and sometimes criticises Lewis for dissenting.

Pearce's book works best when he is actually _engaging_ Lewis personally, bringing out the tensions and occasional inconsistencies in Lewis' theological positions in relation to traditional Roman Catholicism.

However, Pearce falls short in analyzing Lewis' theology itself, per se--and this is why I've rated his book only three stars.

The gravest fault would probably be a total lack of attention given (not only by Pearce but by the authors of his two introductions) to George MacDonald's theology, as Lewis learned and then applied it. Not that GMcD is absent from the book; Pearce dutifully drops him in at both the usual places (Lewis' overt comment about _Phantastes_, and Lewis' use of GMcD as his spiritual guide in _The Great Divorce_). But aside from quoting (and requoting) a brief selection of McD's (fictional) speech from TGD, Pearce never touches what Lewis learned from MacDonald's teaching, aside from an obvious belief of Purgatory. When Pearce tries to position Lewis' understanding of Purgatory, acquired from GMcD, as being essentially Roman Catholic in doctrinal character and implication--well, one only has to compare Dante's Purgatory (and Hell) with McD's (and with McD's decisive comments _against_ certain principles Dante is using), to figure out that Pearce's claim on this simply doesn't add up. (Pearce invites this comparison by mentioning Dante several times within this context, at least once with positive approval.)

Furthermore, McD's (and Dante's) understandings on such topics are derived from primary theological understandings, which McD definitely applies across the board in his theology--and which Lewis clearly judged to be a proper and useful understanding of Christian truth (though not without a couple of tensions with his "Teacher"--which the _Divorce_ itself brings out on occasion). By never including these theological principles in his arguments (pro or con), Pearce ultimately presents a terribly slipshod picture of Lewis' own understandings.

This type of oversight spills into other parts of Pearce's work. For instance, he asserts, at the end of his book, that Lewis believed he had found his true home within Anglicanism--when any even moderately thorough reading of Lewis' corpus would show Lewis' use of the Anglican church to be lukewarm at best (as Pearce himself adequately spends much of his book demonstrating). But Pearce's _real_ job is apologist for conservative Roman Catholicism, and so a main secondary theme is to demonstrate Anglican Catholicism (even the 'high' sort, much moreso the modernist liberal sort) to be deficient as an alternative to the RCs. This is quite possible to do, I think; and Lewis can be a good source for doing it. But to position Lewis as the _defender_ of Anglicanism, slowly being pulled toward the RC against Reformationistic elements that he cannot quite bring himself to reject ('bowing down to them' in Pearce's phraseology), is untenable. Along with the many Catholic authors and friends whom Lewis admired and learned from, Pearce should be accounting for the _other_ main sources of Lewis' chosen theology: including MacDonald's virtually unique anti-Calvinism. (Notably, Pearce never really devotes any time to demonstrating obvious affinity by Lewis for the Reformers, either, settling for innuendo. At least with McD he could have worked directly with the material.)

There are plenty of other nits I could pick--but again, in fairness, I _did_ enjoy the book. Readers already familiar with Lewis' work should be able to safely appreciate Pearce's study, taken in context (especially in the comparison of Lewis to today's Anglicanism--which frankly doesn't seem much different from what Lewis had to deal with in his own day, at least according to Lewis' own criticisms of it).

And perhaps Pearce will turn his attention next to demonstrating how Catholic George MacDonald was... {g!}

Note: readers interested in Lewis' theological sourcing from MacDonald, may buy copies of _Unspoken Sermons_ (three volumes collected in one hardback), _Hope of the Gospel_ and _Miracles of Our Lord_ (collected in one hardback) through amazon.com; or go to johannensen.com for free online copies of the texts or direct ordering.

Insightful answer to "why didn't Lewis convert" and more.......2003-12-10

C.S. Lewis surrounded himself with Catholics at Oxford, immersed himself in literature written by Catholics and accepted Catholic teachings that Protestants are not supposed to (like the doctrine of purgatory). So many have wondered why he never converted to Catholic Christianity as did many of his peers. To point to his "Ulster Protestant prejudice" is a natural, but somewhat overly-simplistic, explanation when applied to this remarkable former atheist turned premier Christian apologist. This well-researched and insightful book shows both the points of convergence and divergence between Lewis's brand of Christianity and Catholic doctrine and seeks to unravel the reasons why Lewis never went the way of Newman and Chesterton. Speculative at times but always cogent in his arguments, the Catholic author always deals with C.S. Lewis and his "Mere Christianity" with great respect, demonstrating his vast knowledge of the circumstances Lewis's life and great familiarity with his writings.

A Retreat With C. S. Lewis: Yielding to a Pursuing God (Grappling With Mysteries of the Faith)

Average customer rating:

Tremendous Disappointment

A Retreat With C. S. Lewis: Yielding to a Pursuing God (Grappling With Mysteries of the Faith)
Robert F. Morneau
Manufacturer: Saint Anthony Messenger Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Christianity | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

General | Religion & Spirituality | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books

All 4-for-3 Deals | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

A Retreat With Thomas Merton: Becoming Who We Are (Retreat With-- Series)
Turning Pain into Power: A Retreat With Gerard Manley Hopkins and Hildegard of Bingen (Retreat With-- Series)
A Retreat With Teresa of Avila: Living by Holy Wit (Retreat With-- Series)
A Retreat With Brother Lawrence and the Russian Pilgrim: Praying Ceaselessly (Retreat With-- Series)
A Retreat With Edith Stein: Trusting God's Purpose (Retreat With-- Series)

ASIN: 0867163283

Customer Reviews:

Tremendous Disappointment.......2005-11-07

I am in awe of C.S. Lewis. I have read many of his writings. I join with so many critics who list him among the most accomplished writers of the 20th century. He has helped me through very difficult periods in my life, and I am grateful to him for sending me to his inspirational sources as well, who have also been of great spiritual benefit (and rescuing). You may imagine, therefore, I was excited to be going on a seven-day self-directed retreat, and brought this volume with me, expecting much inspiration.

What a tremendous disappointment! The author sadly was much more concerned with writing his thoughts than those of C.S. Lewis. There is a paucity of passages written by Lewis, and a plethora of mediocre pages written by this average at best author. He also references many other sources besides Lewis, but I'm not impressed. I wanted Lewis, and I got Robert Morneau, whoever he is. Only when I had reached my sad conclusion about this book did I consult the back flap to discover Morneau is a Catholic bishop. This book is something else besides the bishops' horrific failure to act on child sexual abuse that he has to be ashamed of.

And the editor shares his blame, for allowing this text to be published as is. Some of the "Retreat With" books are excellent (John the Evangelist by Raymond Brown is at the top of the list, and right behind it is the book on Brother Lawrence), and some are very poor. This is the poorest, only in part because it should have been the best.

Average customer rating:

Book Review

C.S. Lewis: Life at the Center
Perry C. Bramlett
Manufacturer: Peake Road
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Religious | Leaders & Notable People | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

Book Description

Bramlett provides a glimpse at the life of one of this century's most famous Christians. He uncovers the true C.S. Lewis-through Lewis' writings, his associates, and closest confidants.

Customer Reviews:

Book Review.......2000-04-03

A great book by C. S. Lewis. Lewis is also the author of the adventerous "The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe. This book is proboably Lewis's best book.

Una gioia insolita: Lettere tra un prete cattolico e un laico anglicano (Gia e non ancora)

Average customer rating:

Una gioia insolita: Lettere tra un prete cattolico e un laico anglicano (Gia e non ancora)
Giovanni Calabria
Manufacturer: Jaca book
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

All Italian Books | Italian | Foreign Language Books | Specialty Stores | Books
ASIN: 8816302976

A rejoinder to a pamphlet by the Rev. Lewis J. O'Hern, C.S.P

Average customer rating:

A rejoinder to a pamphlet by the Rev. Lewis J. O'Hern, C.S.P
Charles C Grafton
Manufacturer: Young Churchman
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B000893R76

The Serpent and the Moon: Two Rivals for the Love of a Renaissance King
Average customer rating:

Lackluster depiction of a menage a trois

Biased, superfitial, hardly a true Historic account.

A Splendid Review Of An Historial Love Triangle

Even my teacher thought this summer reading was boring.

History at its most entertaining

The Serpent and the Moon: Two Rivals for the Love of a Renaissance King
Princess Michael of Kent
Manufacturer: Touchstone
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Europe | History | Subjects | Books
General | France | Europe | History | Subjects | Books
General | World | History | Subjects | Books
Monarchy | Systems Of Government | Political Science | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
Look Inside History Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Similar Items:

Cupid and the King: Five Royal Paramours

Catherine de Medici: Renaissance Queen of France

Courtesan: A Novel

Sex with the Queen: 900 Years of Vile Kings, Virile Lovers, and Passionate Politics (P.S.)

Crowned in a Far Country: Portraits of Eight Royal Brides

ASIN: 0743251067

Book Description

Set against the stunning backdrop of Renaissance France, The Serpent and the Moon is a true story of love, war, intrigue, betrayal, and persecution. At its heart is one of the world's greatest love stories: the lifelong devotion of King Henri II of France to Diane de Poitiers, a beautiful aristocrat who was nineteen years older than her lover.

At age fourteen, Henri was married to fourteen-year-old Catherine de' Medici, an unattractive but extremely wealthy heiress who was to bring half of Italy to France as her dowry. When Catherine met Henri on her wedding day, she fell instantly in love, but Henri could see no one but the beautiful Diane. When Henri eventually became king, he and Diane ruled France as one. Meanwhile, Catherine took as her secret motto the words "Hate and Wait" and lived for the day Diane would die and she could win Henri's love and rule by his side. Fate had another plan.

Her Royal Highness Princess Michael of Kent, herself a descendant of both Catherine and Diane, imbues this seldom-told story with an insider's grasp of royal life. The Serpent and the Moon is a fascinating love story as well as a richly woven history of an extraordinary time.

Customer Reviews:

Lackluster depiction of a menage a trois.......2007-04-22

Every now and then, I get to find out something new in history, and a story that had not made sense before falls into place. Such was the case when I read this biography about one of the most unusual ménage a trois in history.

This biography by the wife of the British Prince Michael of Kent focuses mostly on the passion between one couple of this three-way relationship. Set in 16th century France, it's a story that can be taken several different ways -- as a scandal, a story of a great love, a scheming older woman and a much younger man, or that of a spurned wife.

The story opens with a marriage, that of two fourteen year olds, Henri of France, the second son of King Francois I, and Catherine di Medici, the 'niece' of the Pope, and potential heiress of several wealthy Italian duchies. He was a sullen, quiet boy, still traumatized by several years imprisonment in Spain as a hostage for his father. Catherine, having been deprived of her parents in infancy, had been passed around an assortment of relatives and convents, unsure of where she would be from day to day. It was a magnificent wedding, and both young people performed their parts, including Henri consummating the marriage.

The surprise came after the wedding -- when Henri promptly returned to the company of his Lady. She was Diane de Portiers, a highly placed lady of his father's court. She was also eighteen years older than Henri, very beautiful, educated and possessed of a dignified courtesy. In short, she was everything that Catherine was not. She also had the confidence of both of Henri's parents, and ever since her husband's death, she had worn nothing but black and white, and young Henri had adopted those colours as his own, playing the part of a chivalrous young knight to his lady.

It was Catherine who suffered for ten years, enduring rejection by her husband and having to treat his mistress with grace and courtesy. But on the inside, it appeared that she was seething. She adopted a secret motto for herself --- "Hate and Wait" -- and had a peephole placed in the floor of her bedchamber so that she could spy on the amourous couplings of her husband and her lover. It must have been humiliating to know that Diane and Henri eventually gave into King Francois' demands that Henri get his wife with child, and Diane sending her husband upstairs to get his wife, suggesting that he make love to her like a greyhound, and then as soon as the deed was done, return to Diane's arms. Evidently the suggestion worked -- Catherine would have nine children by Henri. Despite this horrible behavior, Catherine would love her husband, still as besotted as when she was a new bride.

When Henri finally became King, Diane remained at his side, recieving properties and becoming his closest confidant and advisor. Henri in turn, championed her, placing their intertwined intials throughout the royal palaces, and having her continually at his side. Diane played her part, creating herself as the goddess of the hunt and the moon, and clearly delighting in the role of uncrowned queen of France. But there was one problem in the relationship -- she was much older than her lover, and what would happen when the years finally caught up with her?

The biggest problem that I had with this was that the author is more than smitten with her leading lady. Continually, she refers to how beautiful, how talented, how good, how noble, how beloved Diane de Poitiers was by everyone. This adulation leaves little room for faults, and the story is certainly one sided -- very little is mentioned if she had any enemies, or if she did anything at all that was wrong. After a while, it does get a bit nauseating to read about. No one likes a perfect person.

Unfortunately, the luckless Catherine de Medici is reduced to the stereotypes of a jealous, bitter wife in this. Little is mentioned of her life after Henri II's death, her elegance and polish, and her love of art and fine living. Instead, Princess Michael doesn't miss an opportunity to refer to Catherine as a dumpy, fat, wife, and how ugly and unattractive she is. Very little is mentioned about Catherine's talents in the arts, or that she was extremely graceful with a sharp wit.

And then, what about the third person in this marriage? Henri II comes across as one of those men who is certainly attractive and charming, but also extremely selfish. His callous treatment of Catherine is certainly dispicable, ignoring her while he went chasing after a woman who was old enough to be his mother.

As far as historical writing goes, this is a very average book. Princess Michael's style is pendantic and repetitious, going over the same track again and again. By the end of the book, I was bored, and very glad to see it end. While there are black and white illustrations throughout the text, and an insert of colour photos, along with the usual notes and bibliography, there's not much that can really save this work.

Instead, I would suggest Leonie Frieda's excellent biography of Catherine di Medici which is much more even handed and sympathetic to read.

Over all, despite some good information and insights, this one gets an average, three star rating for the banality and dullness in this work. Somewhat recommended.

Biased, superfitial, hardly a true Historic account........2006-11-26

This book is a waste of time and a major disapointment . After the recently discovered documents of the period by accredited Historians like Ivan Cloulas you'd expect Kent would deliver a renovated and accurate account of this strange "love" triangle.Nevertheless, Kent gives a biased vision of the story, proving her mediocrity as a Historian.
First of all, I don't understand why the author gets out of her way to prove she is related (very distantly and indirectly if I may add) to Diane and Catherine.How is that relevant to the book? Does that make her a good writer? evidently not.From the beginning she seems to be fascinated by Diane.She even decorates her aparment with black and white colors (the colors of the concubine).The fact that her mother told her about Diane and other "ancestors" instead of using the traditional fairytales is preposterous and out of place.
Long story short, Kent's portrayal of the so called love story is as black and white as her london apartment:Henri II was devoted to Diane because she was a gorgeous woman, inside and out, and Catherine and a fat ugly bitter Italian social climber. First,most sources describe Catherine as a slender princess, pretty much an athlete and a gracious dancer.She was loved by the Valois family upon her arrival in France.It was her close relationship with king Francis I that antagonized her with the future Henri II.It was no secret that Henri hated his father.
Furthermore, Diane's "love" for Henri was a very convenient one: she took countless benefits from him, such as jewels, land and titles.In order words, Diane was a real social climber, very interested in money and improving her political influence.
Finally, Henri was NOT entirely devoted to Diane.He took many other lovers during his life notbaly Filipa Ducci and Lady Fleming.
Catherine belonged to one of the most aristocratic French families on her mother's side; she had land and many titles in France.She didn't need to prove anything to anyone.Diane had a great influence on Henri, but I would hardly call theirs one of the greatest love stories like Kent intends to call it.Diane de Poitiers was no different than other royal mistresses such as Agnes Sorel, Anne d'Etampes, Pompadour and Du Barry, whose "love" for their king was very much conditioned by their love of money and power.
Kent doesn't seem willing to explore such considerations, and that's precisely what makes her book a falsification of History.

A Splendid Review Of An Historial Love Triangle.......2006-10-31

After reading the novel "Courtesean" by Diane Haeger, I was thrilled to discover The Serpent And The Moon. Princess Michael of Kent did an extraordinary job of researching and writing her book, and presented her facts in a nice and easy-to-read manner. Although most feel that she was biased against Catherine de Medici, I found this, in my opinion, to be the opposite. I think Princess Michael was able to present the facts, and she pointed out many attributes of Catherine, such as her ability to become a "quick study" when circumstances called for it. She was noted as being highly fashionable, cultured, and a woman of brains, overall. The proof that she was able to run a country for many years shows Catherine's skills and brilliance. Princess Michael pointed out that Catherine knew balance and how to maintain this when needed, as well as how to be resourcesful. For such a time as Renaissance France, Catherine was no more evil or viscious than anyone else at that time. The author also indicates that she did not exonerate or uphold Diane de Poitiers' behavior or choices in her relationship with King Henri, but wished to present the facts, which she nicely did. I loved this book, and after reading "Courtesan", found that it wrapped up this time in history with an informative overview of how events occurred and the people that influenced them. A "Well Done!!" to Princess Michael.

Even my teacher thought this summer reading was boring........2006-09-11

This book was very boring.

As is obvious from the very start, Princess Michael does nothing but glorify Diane and denounce Catherine on everything from intellect to fashion sense to appearance. It is tremendously biased and one pities Catherine for putting up with her husband's love affair and then, in a book about her own life, being reduced to three words: "Hate and Wait." Henri doesn't even play a large role: he is reduced to the smitten prince of a goddess, his own personality succumbing to the exemplified virtues of his mistress.

HRH has obviously done her research and knows an immense amount of detail on the time period, but that doesn't mean all of it (or any of it) is relevant. Fashion, architecture, and religion are interesting details, but the author wastes whole chapters discussing Henri's grandparents and his father's favorite chateaus. More annoying than the intense prejudice against Catherine is the excruciating detail and redundancy of the beginning and middle chapters. The result is a supernaturally boring account of noble life in the 1500s, not specifically the lives of Henri, Catherine, and Diane. There are so many other minor characters that the reader must constantly flip back to the family tree to get all the players straight--and if you're not familiar with French, forget about it. I think this is Princess Michael's first book, so she hasn't learned how to be concise yet.

Overall, the book is really not worth buying. If you borrow it from the library, read the jacket, the first chapter, and the last chapter and you will get the best part of a supernaturally tedious read.

History at its most entertaining.......2006-07-17

This is one of the few books in English about the intriguing life of Diane de Poiters, mistress of Henri II. Princess Michael handles her material very deftly, giving the reader background of the childhoods of Henri II including his 4-year imprisonment in Spain, Catherine de' Medici his future wife and Diane de Poitiers. The stage is thus set for Henri's strong attraction to Diane and his almost complete lack of interest in Catherine, who, tragically, fell hopelessly in love with Henri at 14 when they were wed. The rivalry between the two women was intense and Princess Michael's treatment of it makes for a page-turning read. A real plus are pages of beautiful color photos of the main figures and places, as well as many black and white pictures of other key persons interspersed throughout. This is an exceedingly well-researched, and as importantly, well-written and engaging book. It rivals popular historical novels for pure entertainment value.

Book Description

Harold Lloyd, born in 1893, became one of the greatest comic actors in America. This is a compendium of all things Lloyd, with entries on noteworthy persons, recurring themes, crucial elements of Lloyd's life (birth, education, marriage, family, hobbies, death, etc.), his prime co-stars and co-workers, the films that made him a legend (201 of them), and numerous other topics covering every facet of the man and the actor, all fully cross-referenced and accompanied by a vast collection of images and advertisements.

Lacking the vaudeville training of his chief contemporaries, Lloyd nonetheless grew quickly from a gag technician to a skilled actor. In 1917, he created his famed Glass Character, but a live bomb amongst the props maimed his hand two years later. Keeping his handicap hidden by use of a revolutionary prosthetic, he continued to both charm and enthrall audiences. "The action may be outlandish," he said of himself, "but the characters—most particularly the central character—must not be."

An Appendix A lists the Lloyd shorts in the order produced, with the Production Code assigned by the Rolin Film Company officials. Appendix B is a proper filmography, listing each Lloyd film from 1913 to 1966 in chronological order.

Customer Reviews:

Hurray for Harold Lloyd!.......2006-08-29

This is a wonderful compendium of and for everything Harold Lloyd! What a great reference. It's filled with facts and fun trivia about the great silent comedic film genius and the people, places and animals that were all part of Harold's world of comedy... and his life on and off the silver screen. I just love this book!

Git Along, Little Dogies: Songs and Songmakers of the American West (Music in American Life)
Average customer rating:
Git Along, Little Dogies: Songs and Songmakers of the American West (Music in American Life)
John I. White
Manufacturer: University of Illinois Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Instruments & Performers | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
General | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
Bluegrass | Musical Genres | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
Country | Musical Genres | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

The Whorehouse Bells Were Ringing and Other Songs Cowboys Sing (Music in American Life)

Cowboy and Western Songs: A Comprehensive Anthology

ASIN: 0252003276

Git Along, Little Dogies: Songs and Songmakers of the American West.
Average customer rating:
Git Along, Little Dogies: Songs and Songmakers of the American West.
John I. White
Manufacturer: University of Illinois Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OPY2E6

Book Description

How well do you think you know your opera? Match wits with Metropolitan Opera quiz master Father Owen Lee in forty-five opera-related puzzles, including straight-forward quizzes, anagrams, vertical patterns, crostics, and crossword puzzles. Each puzzle has a theme, such as baseball and opera, movies and opera, and operas set in Paris. Forty-three of the puzzles have been collected from Father Lee's column in The Opera Quarterly, along with two new puzzles especially created for this volume.

Father Lees Opera Quiz Book
Average customer rating:
Father Lees Opera Quiz Book
Owen Lee
Manufacturer: UNIV OF TORONTO @ PRESS
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000SI2O1C

Becoming a Strategic Leader: Your Role in Your Organization's Enduring Success (J-B CCL (Center for Creative Leadership))
Average customer rating:

Excellent book for developing strategic leadership skills

** I love it **

Another good book to be added to your Strategic Thinkers' Bokshelf!

Becoming a Strategic Leader

Becoming a Strategic Leader: Your Role in Your Organization's Enduring Success (J-B CCL (Center for Creative Leadership))
Richard L. Hughes , and Katherine M. Beatty
Manufacturer: Jossey-Bass
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Leadership | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Look Inside Business Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
All Amazon Upgrade | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books
Business & Investing | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books
All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Business & Investing | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

The CCL Guide to Leadership in Action: How Managers and Organizations Can Improve the Practice of Leadership (J-B CCL (Center for Creative Leadership))

The CCL Handbook of Coaching: A Guide for the Leader Coach (J-B CCL (Center for Creative Leadership))

Organizational Behavior in Health Care

Becoming a Conflict Competent Leader: How You and Your Organization Can Manage Conflict Effectively (J-B CCL (Center for Creative Leadership))

Emerging Systems for Managing Workplace Conflict: Lessons from American Corporations for Managers and Dispute Resolution Professionals

ASIN: 0787968676

Book Description

Today’s organizations face difficult challenges in order to remain competitive—the quickening pace of change, increasing uncertainty, growing ambiguity, and complexity. To meet these challenges, organizations must broaden the scope of leadership responsibility for strategic leadership and engage more people in the process of leadership. In Becoming a Strategic Leader Rich Hughes and Kate Beatty from the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) offer executives and managers a handbook for implementing a strategic leadership process that reaches leaders at all levels of organizations. Based on CCL’s successful Developing the Strategic Leader Program, this book outlines the framework of strategic leadership and contains practical suggestions on how to develop the individual, team, and organizational skills needed for institutions to become more adaptable, flexible, and resilient. The authors also show how individual managers can exercise effective strategic leadership through their distinctive and systemic approach—thinking, acting, and influencing.

Download Description

Today's organizations face difficult challenges in order to remain competitive; the quickening pace of change, increasing uncertainty, growing ambiguity, and complexity. To meet these challenges, organizations must broaden the scope of leadership responsibility for strategic leadership and engage more people in the process of leadership. In Becoming a Strategic Leader Rich Hughes and Kate Beatty from the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) offer executives and managers a handbook for implementing a strategic leadership process that reaches leaders at all levels of organizations. Based on CCL's successful Developing the Strategic Leader Program, this book outlines the framework of strategic leadership and contains practical suggestions on how to develop the individual, team, and organizational skills needed for institutions to become more adaptable, flexible, and resilient. The authors also show how individual managers can exercise effective strategic leadership through their distinctive and systemic approach; thinking, acting, and influencing.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent book for developing strategic leadership skills.......2007-05-29

The book written by Richard Hughes and Katherine Colarelli continues with the tradition of the Center for Creative Leadership of producing tools and information based on solid research and experience.
The book proposes a model of strategic leadership composed of three large competency clusters: strategic thinking, strategic acting and strategic influencing and then it explains and analyze each of these clusters, providing, not only a theoretical explanation of the different skills but also examples, tools and activities to develop them.

** I love it **.......2005-12-06

Before I bought this book I did not realize that it is such a very useful resource. If you are looking for a resource to inspire your startegic leadership, it is the right one.

I really like to have more books from CCL :-).

Another good book to be added to your Strategic Thinkers' Bokshelf!.......2005-09-07

Most of the publications that come out of CCL (or Center for Creative Leadership), which I have acquired for my personal library, are seemingly well-supported by research findings & concisely written by the respective authors, who apparently hold impeccable track records in their fields. This particular book is one of them. (CCL has earned its #1 Rank in Leadership Education by Business Week).

My primary interest in strategic leadership stems from my relentless search for better understanding of the thinking processes that go inside the heads of leaders. To be more precise, the strategy formulation processes! This has been by burning passion for more than two decades.

In this book, the authors have artfully as well as logically demonstrated how readers can exercise effective strategic leadership through their distinctive & systematic approach:

- strategic thinking (Chapter 2);
- strategic acting (Chapter 3);
- strategic influencing (Chapter 4);

These serve as the synergistic driving forces. In the authors' own words: Driving strategy as a learning process. (I am actually quite tempted to use the term, `syn-vergent' instead of `synergistic' [driving forces] as the former term was originally coined by Michael Gelb, in Thinking for a Change, which means `the art of balancing convergent and divergent thinking modes, logic and imagination, reason and intuition.' In the current book under review, the authors contend that strategic thinking engages the heart as well as the head.)

With an excellent introduction in Chapter 1, Chapter 6 shows how readers can apply the above approach in the broader organizational context.

Chapter 7 sums up the book: Becoming a Strategic Leader, using surfing as a metaphorical platform (I like it!) - keeping your balance while learning the best path to follow amid constantly changing conditions.

Throughout the book, the authors discuss in depth the specific competencies & perspectives related to each of the above driving forces, as well as their interdependency in producing a more wholistic (or more appropriately, `syn-vergent', as explained above) & meaningful strategy.

In conclusion as a whole from the standpoint of reader friendliness & action-packed learning, I rate this wonderful book a 5.

So, readers, please add this book to your Strategic Thinker's Bookshelf.

Attention Readers: To complement as well as to reinforce your understanding of Chapter 2 of this book, please read `Choosing the Future: The Power of Strategic Thinking', by Stuart Wells.

Becoming a Strategic Leader.......2005-03-17

Becoming a Strategic Leader is a focused and wonderfully written work for those who believe in approaching challenges in a strategic way. The authors, trainers and researchers at the internationally acclaimed Center for Creative Leadership (www.ccl.org), use a framework familiar to strategic planning processes to improve the likelihood of obtaining results in enhancing one's leadership effectiveness. The content is solid and full of real life examples and applications. This book will appeal to those who are drawn to a logical approach to problem solving but should also engage the heart of others seeking to add structure to their own development or that of their teams. If you liked Execution, and Good to Great, you should like this as well. It is well worth a look.

Dr. Christopher Evans
www.christopherevans.org

Becoming A Strategic Leader Your Role In Your Organization's Enduring Success

Average customer rating:

Becoming A Strategic Leader Your Role In Your Organization's Enduring Success
Richard L. Hughes
Manufacturer: NY
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000N7ID04

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books