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Clive Staples Lewis (1898–1963) was one of the intellectual giants of the twentieth century and arguably one of the most influential writers of his day. He was a Fellow and Tutor in English Literature at Oxford University until 1954, when he was unanimously elected to the Chair of Medieval and Renaissance Literature at Cambridge University, a position he held until his retirement.
Lewis wrote more than thirty books, allowing him to reach a vast audience, and his works continue to attract thousands of new readers every year. C. S. Lewis’s most distinguished and popular accomplishments include Mere Christianity, Out of the Silent Planet, The Great Divorce, The Screwtape Letters, and the universally acknowledged classics in The Chronicles of Narnia. To date, the Narnia books have sold over 100 million copies and been transformed into three major motion pictures.
EXPLORE THE C.S. LEWIS TIMELINE
- November 29, 1898:
Clive Staple Lewis born in Belfast, Ireland.
- August 23, 1908:
Lewis’s mother, Florence Augusta (‘Flora’) Hamilton Lewis, dies.
- September 18, 1908
Sent to the Wynyard School in Watford, Hertfordshire, England.
- September 1910:
Enrolls as boarding student at Campbell College, Belfast, Ireland; leaves in December due to respiratory problems.
- September 1911:
Enrolls at Cherboug House near Malvern College, England; abandons his Christian faith.
- April 1914:
Meets Arthur Greeves, who becomes a lifelong friend.
- September 19, 1914:
Is privately tutored by W. T. "The Great Knock" Kirkpatrick.
- December 1916:
Receives a scholarship to University College, Oxford.
- June 8, 1917:
Enlists in British Army.
- April 1918:
Lewis’s close friend Paddy Moore reported killed in battle.
- April 15, 1918:
Wounded in Battle of Arras.
- December, 1918:
Discharged from British Army.
- 1919:
Moves in with Moore’s mother, Mrs Janie King Moore, and sister, Maureen.
- May 20, 1919
Publishes Spirits in Bondage under the pseudonym Clive Hamilton.
- May 20, 1925:
Appointed English Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford, where he tutors English Language and Literature.
- May 11, 1926:
Meets friend and colleague J.R.R. Tolkien.
- September 20, 1926:
Publishes Dymer under the pseudonym Clive Hamilton.Buy this book
- September 24, 1929:
Lewis’s father, Albert Lewis, dies in Belfast.
- 1929:
Abandons atheism and converts to theism.
- October 11, 1930:
Lewis, the Moores, and later Warren, Lewis's brother, move into "The Kilns".
- September 1931:
Converts to Christianity.
- May 25, 1933:
Publishes The Pilgrim’s Regress.
- May 21, 1936:
Publishes The Allegory of Love.
- September 23, 1938:
Publishes the first novel in the Space Trilogy series, Out of the Silent Planet.Buy this book
- April 25, 1940:
Weekly meetings of the "Inklings" begin.
- October 18, 1940:
Publishes The Problem of Pain.Buy this book
- August 1941:
Begins war-time broadcast talks on Christianity, later collected as Mere Christianity.Buy this book
- January 26, 1942:
Attends the first meeting of Oxford University's Socratic Club.
- February 9, 1942:
Publishes The Screwtape Letters.Buy this book
- July 13, 1942:
Publishes Broadcast Talks, based on BBC recordings.
- October 8, 1942:
Publishes A Preface to Paradise Lost.
- January 6, 1943:
Publishes The Abolition of Man.
- April 19, 1943:
Publishes Christian Behaviour, based on BBC recordings.
- April 20, 1943:
Publishes the second novel in the Space Trilogy series, Perelandra.
- October 9, 1944:
Publishes Beyond Personality, based on BBC recordings.
- August 16, 1945:
Publishes the third novel in the Space Trilogy series, That Hideous Strength.Buy this book
- January 14, 1946:
Publishes The Great Divorce.Buy this book
- June 28, 1946:
Awarded an honorary Doctor of Divinity by the University of St. Andrews.
- May 12, 1947:
Publishes Miracles.Buy this book
- September 8, 1947:
Appears on the cover of Time magazine.
- 1948:
Elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.
- September 13, 1949:
Publishes The Weight of Glory and Other Addresses.Buy this book
- October 16, 1950:
Publishes the first novel in the Chronicles of Narnia series, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.Buy this book
- January 12, 1951
Mrs. Moore dies.
- October 15, 1951:
Publishes the second novel in the Chronicles of Narnia series, Prince Caspian: The Return to Narnia.Buy this book
- July 7, 1952:
Publishes Mere Christianity, which combines previously published Broadcast Talks (1942), Christian Behavior (1943), and Beyond Personality (1944).Buy this book
- September 15, 1952:
Publishes the third novel in the Chronicles of Narnia series, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.Buy this book
- September 7, 1953:
Publishes the fourth novel in the Chronicles of Narnia series, The Silver Chair.Buy this book
- 1954:
Becomes chair of Medieval and Renaissance Literature at Cambridge.
- September 6, 1954:
Publishes the fifth novel in the Chronicles of Narnia series, The Horse and His Boy.Buy this book
- September 16, 1954:
Publishes English Literature in the Sixteenth Century.
- May 2, 1955:
Publishes the sixth novel in the Chronicles of Narnia series, The Magician’s Nephew.Buy this book
- September 19, 1955:
Publishes Surprised By Joy.Buy this book
- March 19, 1956:
Publishes the seventh, and final, novel in the Chronicles of Narnia series, The Last Battle.Buy this book
- April 23, 1956:
Marries Joy Davidman Gresham.
- September 10, 1956:
Publishes Till We Have Faces.
- September 8, 1958:
Publishes Reflections on the Psalms.
- June 1959:
Becomes, with T. S. Eliot, a member of the Commission to Revise the Psalter.
- March 28, 1960:
Publishes The Four Loves.Buy this book
- July 13, 1960:
Lewis’s wife dies.
- September 9, 1960:
Publishes Studies in Words.
- June 1961:
Diagnosed with kidney inflammation.
- September 29, 1961:
Publishes A Grief Observed under the pseudonym N. W. Clerk.
- October 13, 1961:
Publishes An Experiment in Criticism.
- November 22, 1963:
Dies.
- January 27, 1964:
Posthumously publishes Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer.
- May 7, 1964:
Posthumously publishes The Discarded Image.
- June 9, 1966:
Posthumously publishes Studies in Medieval and Renaissance Literature.
