Description
Book SynopsisHilaire Belloc was a man of many parts. Half English, half French, with an American wife, Belloc was a man who thought and traveled widely. He was the best essayist in the English language. His historical studies covered much of European history. He wrote a book on America, another on Paris, another on the Servile State. He sailed his boat The Nona around England and into the Island of Patmos. He walked to Rome and, with his four companions, through Sussex. While he did so, he thought, reflected, laughed, wondered. He was a born Catholic. He saw the depths of European civilization in its classical and Christian heritage, as well as in their being lost.
Bellow saw Islam as an abiding power. His books on walking are classic. He walked much of Europe, England, France, Italy, Spain, and North Africa. His insight into people was extraordinary. He wrote verses for children, poetry, studies of English kings and French cardinals. He was prolific. He had a son killed in World War I and another in World War II. He had many friends; his friendships with Chesterton and Baring were lasting and profound. When we “remember” Belloc, we remember much of what we are, much of what we ought to be. Belloc was something of a sad man, yet he laughed and sang and was in many ways irrepressible. Reading Belloc is both a delight and an education. He belonged to a tradition of letters that was never narrow but knew that to see something small, one had to see the whole picture, both human and divine. We remember Belloc to find out who we are and who we ought to be – men who sing and laugh and wonder about the mystery of things given to us.
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments
Preface:
Part 1
Chapter 1 “On the Character of Enduring Things”
Chapter 2 On Endurance and Fortitude
Chapter 3 At the Lake of Tiberias
Chapter 4 On Fame
Chapter 5 “A Place Where I Have Never Yet Seen”
Part 2
Chapter 6 The Path to Rome: Belloc’s Walk a Century Later
Chapter 7 Permanence
Chapter 8 On the Vanity of Learned Men
Chapter 9 Ars Taedica
Chapter 10 On the Usefulness of the New Year
Part 3
Chapter 11 “Islam Will Not Be the Loser”
Chapter 12 A Certain Loss
Chapter 13 On Thinking Continually of Those in Beatitude
Chapter 14 On Remembering “A Remaining Christmas”@
Chapter 15 On Being Close to Things Primary
Part 4
Chapter 16 On Towns and Places
Chapter 17 The Fight for Good Things
Chapter 18 On Irony as the “Avenger of Truth”
Chapter 19 Belloc’s Mrs. Markham on the Americans
Chapter 20 “Ultimate Knowledge upon the Ultimate Realities”
Part 5
Chapter 21 Belloc on the Metaphysics of Walking
Chapter 22 On the Loneliest Month
Chapter 23 “In the Presence of So Wonderful a Thing”
Chapter 24 “What We Have Long Called England”
Part 6
Chapter 25 The Charm of Belloc: “On Caring Too Much”
Chapter 26 October Thirtieth, 1902
Chapter 27 In Persuit of Nobody
Chapter 28 Belloc’s Infamous Phrase
Chapter 29 Harbour in the North
Chapter 30 The Unsuccessful Man
Conclusion
Bibliography
