Lewis in Wartime

C. S. Lewis at the BBC: Messages of Hope in the Darkness of War
by Justin Phillips
London: HarperCollins, 2002
(321 pages; £20.00, hardcover)

reviewed by Dale Nelson

C. S. Lewis doesn’t appear in this book’s narrative until page 49, the British Broadcasting Company’s first letter to him isn’t sent until page 80, and we don’t read of his first broadcast until page 114. However, most readers will appreciate the well-presented account of the origin, development, attitudes, and wartime policies of the BBC that Phillips, a BBC insider, provides—and some will shake their heads wistfully over the overtly Christian stance that prevailed in this government-sponsored organization—something hardly thinkable today. Readers will be impressed by the author’s handling of technical information; there’s enough here to appeal to old-time radio buffs, yet others will not be bored.

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