During the dark years leading up to World War II, two friends met regularly in Oxford—talking late into the night about myth, faith, courage, and the fate of civilization.

The world around them seemed to be unraveling. Totalitarian ideologies were spreading across Europe. War was looming.

So they did something unusual. They told stories.

But these stories were not simply escapism. They were a way of recovering the virtues that sustain a civilization: courage, sacrifice, loyalty, and hope.

Join historian Joseph Loconte as he uncovers the remarkable friendship behind these beloved works and the historical crisis that shaped them.

Drawing from his new book, The War for Middle-earth: J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis Confront the Gathering Storm, 1933–1945, Loconte reveals how these writers used imagination to confront the darkness of their age—and why their message still matters today.

Reserve your seat today!

 

About the Speaker

Joseph Loconte, Ph.D., is an author, historian, and filmmaker. He is director of the Rivendell Center in New York City and serves as a presidential scholar at New College of Florida and as the C.S. Lewis Scholar for Public Life at Grove City College.

His books include the New York Times bestseller A Hobbit, a Wardrobe, and a Great War; God, Locke, and Liberty: The Struggle for Religious Freedom in the West; and his newest release, The War for Middle-earth: J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis Confront the Gathering Storm, 1933-1945. He earned his Ph.D. in history from King’s College London.