When people think of J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, they often picture tweedy Oxford professors and beloved fantasy authors. But their writing wasn't drawn only from their bucolic days teaching at Oxford and walking in the English countryside; it had a darker, deeper backdrop: the trenches of World War I and the cataclysm of World War II. Lewis and Tolkien weren't just fantasy writers — they were war veterans, cultural critics, and men with firsthand knowledge of evil, heroism, and sacrifice.

In today’s episode, I’m joined by Joseph Loconte, returning to the show to discuss his latest book, The War for Middle Earth. We explore how both world wars shaped the perspectives of Tolkien and Lewis, found their way into works like The Lord of the Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia, and infused their literary masterpieces with moral weight, spiritual depth, and timeless themes of resistance, friendship, and redemption. We also talk about the legendary friendship between Tolkien and Lewis, the creation of the Inklings, and how the men demonstrated the countercultural power of imaginative storytelling.

Resources Related to the Podcast

Related AoM podcasts:
#178: The Inklings Mastermind Group
#272: Lewis, Tolkien, and the Myth of Progress (Loconte’s first appearance on the AoM podcast)
#430: Why You Need to Join the Great Conversation About the Great Books
#499: A Fascinating Primer on Norse Mythology
#594: How Churchill (and London) Survived the Blitz of 1940
#723: Men Without Chests
#765: C.S. Lewis on Building Men With Chests
#951: The Hobbit Virtues
Related AoM articles
The Power of Conversation: A Lesson from CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien
Lessons in Manliness from Viking Mythology
Lessons in Manliness: The Hobbit
Men Without Chests
“Blood, Sweat, and Tears” speech by Winston Churchill
4 Classic Chapter Books to Read Aloud With Your Kids
Related outside articles:
Tolkien’s Deadly Dragons
Munich Agreement
Owen Barfield
Tolkien books mentioned:
The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien
Beowulf translated by Tolkien
The Hobbit
The Lord of the Rings
Beren and Luthien
Letters from Father Christmas
Lewis books mentioned:
The Letters of C.S. Lewis
The Collected Poems of C.S. Lewis
The Pilgrim’s Regress
The Chronicles of Narnia
The Great Divorce
The Screwtape Letters
The Space Trilogy
The Four Loves
Mere Christianity
The Reading Life
Related books by other authors:
Tolkien and the Great War by John Garth
The Somme by Martin Gilbert
The Guns of August by Barbara Tuchman
The Future of an Illusion by Sigmund Freud
The Aeneid by Virgil
Phantastes by George MacDonald
The Vinland Sagas
The Iliad and The Odyssey by Homer
The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri
Le Morte d’Arthur by Thomas Malory

Connect With Joseph Loconte

Joseph's website

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Perils and Powers of Cowardice