Charles Williams

This is the first full biography of Charles Williams (1886-1945), an extraordinary and controversial figure who was a central member of the InklingsDLthe group of Oxford writers that included C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. Charles WilliamsDLnovelist, poet, theologian, magician and guruDLwas the strangest, most multi-talented, and most controversial member of the group. He was a pioneering fantasy writer, who still has a cult following. C.S.Lewis thought his poems on King Arthur and the Holy Grail were among the best poetry of the twentieth century for 'the soaring and gorgeous novelty of their technique, and their profound wisdom'. ButWilliams was full of contradictions. An influential theologian, Williams was also deeply involved in the occult, experimenting extensively with magic, practising erotically-tinged rituals, and acquiring a following of devoted disciples. Membership of the Inklings, whom he joined at the outbreak of the Second World War, was only the final phase in a remarkable career. From a poor background in working-class London, Charles Williams rose to become an influential publisher, asuccessful dramatist, and an innovative literary critic. His friends and admirers included T.S. Eliot, W.H. Auden, Dylan Thomas, and the young Philip Larkin. A charismaticpersonality, he held left-wing political views, and believed that the Christian churches had dangerously undervalued sexuality. To redress the balance, he developed a 'Romantic Theology', aiming at an approach to God through sexual love. He became the most admired lecturer in wartime Oxford, influencing a generation of young writers before dying suddenly at the height of his powers. This biography draws on a wealth of documents, letters and private papers, many neverbefore opened to researchers, and on more than twenty interviews with people who knew Williams. It vividly recreates the bizarre and dramatic life of this strange, uneasy genius, of whom Eliot wrote, 'Forhim there was no frontier between the material and the spiritual world.'

“"I stand in awe of the achievement this book represents. I cannot thank Grevel Lindop enough for accepting the challenge of writing The Third Inkling and tracing, insofar as possible, the life of this admittedly strange and incontestably gifted man. Lindop has written what will surely stand as the biography of record of Charles Walter Stansby Williams." --Rev. Nancy E. Topolewski, VII: Journal of the Marion E. Wade Center”

In Charles Williams: The Third Inkling, Grevel Lindop has written a page-turner. He proves himself a master of the biographical narrative. He knows how to end chapters and sections of chapters with cliffhangers. He liberally employs the ironic slant, and he has an eye for visuals. Lindop's preface, a model of balanced prose, sets the volume's tone. Philip Irving Mitchell, Religion and the Arts
exemplary, and very thought-provoking Philip Hensher, Books of the Year 2015, The Spectator
This solid and scholarly biography explores the byways of literary history with much verve and energy ... Lindop has provided a fascinating account Philip Hensher, Spectator
Lindop has added significantly to our knowledge of the Third Man in the Inklings and deftly filled in some major blank areas in our standard map of literary modernism. Kevin Jackson, Literary Review
excellent biography London Review of Books
[a] fine, thoroughly researched book. Tablet
thorough biography Journey
fascinating reading ... meticulous study ... This biography puts Williams back in the picture Andy Ffrench, Oxford Times
a fascinating, and even astonishing biography Theology
Grevel Lindop's biography of Charles Williams is, in almost every way, all that one would want in such a study: comprehensive, judicious, sympathetic, but also properly surprised by its subject, for good and ill. Rowan Williams, Journal of Inkling Studies
His prose style has benefitted from long years of listening to the musicality of language: his sentences are clear and competent, his narrative skill evident, his storytelling ability considerable. It is this last quality, in combination with his meticulous scholarship, that makes The Third Inkling masterful. Sørina Higgins, Journal of Inkling Studies
Lindop's exhaustive research and clarity of presentation make this an indispensable volume for anyone who wishes to understand Williams and come to terms with his writing and influence. No future study of Williams will be adequate without drawing on this study; Lindop deserves much praise for bringing to completion such a massive endeavour. Holly Ordway, Journal of Inkling Studies
Lindop's narrative, packed with incident and parcelled into satisfying arcs, is exemplary Oxford Today
Grevel Lindop has written a ground-breaking life, at once scholarly and readable, which reveals Williams in all his fascination ... Lindop has done a real service in showing not only why his writing had such an appeal for Tolkein, Lewis, and Eliot, but how it can still jolt us into deeper reflection today. The Rt Revd Lord Harries, Church Times
the definitive biography ... .a brilliant introduction to a brilliant, yet very troubled and troubling, man Evangelical Times
an authoritative, and extremely readable, biography. Sydney Morning Herald
The Third Inkling is a very readable book which wears its meticulous research lightly - and that's no mean feat. It raises some important and troubling questions. A Writer's Life
well-written biography Notre Dame magazine
wonderful biography Network Review
As a work of biographical scholarship, then, The Third Inkling leaves nothing to be desired. The Oddest Inkling
a thorough, profound, and sympathetic study A.N Wilson, First Things
an excellent biography, taking its place as the premier resource on Williams The Notion Club Papers

Grevel Lindop was formerly Professor of Romantic and Early Victorian Studies at the University of Manchester. His previous books include The Opium-Eater: A Life of Thomas De Quincey; A Literary Guide to the Lake District; Travels on the Dance Floor, which was a BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week; and a twenty-one volume edition of The Works of Thomas De Quincey. He has published six collections of poems, and his Selected Poems appeared in 2000.He lives in Manchester, where he now works as a freelance writer

This is the first full biography of Charles Williams (1886-1945), an extraordinary and controversial figure who was a central member of the InklingsDLthe group of Oxford writers that included C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. Charles WilliamsDLnovelist, poet, theologian, magician and guruDLwas the strangest, most multi-talented, and most controversial member of the group. He was a pioneering fantasy writer, who still has a cult following. C.S.Lewis thought his poems on King Arthur and the Holy Grail were among the best poetry of the twentieth century for 'the soaring and gorgeous novelty of their technique, and their profound wisdom'. ButWilliams was full of contradictions. An influential theologian, Williams was also deeply involved in the occult, experimenting extensively with magic, practising erotically-tinged rituals, and acquiring a following of devoted disciples. Membership of the Inklings, whom he joined at the outbreak of the Second World War, was only the final phase in a remarkable career. From a poor background in working-class London, Charles Williams rose to become an influential publisher, asuccessful dramatist, and an innovative literary critic. His friends and admirers included T.S. Eliot, W.H. Auden, Dylan Thomas, and the young Philip Larkin. A charismaticpersonality, he held left-wing political views, and believed that the Christian churches had dangerously undervalued sexuality. To redress the balance, he developed a 'Romantic Theology', aiming at an approach to God through sexual love. He became the most admired lecturer in wartime Oxford, influencing a generation of young writers before dying suddenly at the height of his powers. This biography draws on a wealth of documents, letters and private papers, many neverbefore opened to researchers, and on more than twenty interviews with people who knew Williams. It vividly recreates the bizarre and dramatic life of this strange, uneasy genius, of whom Eliot wrote, 'Forhim there was no frontier between the material and the spiritual world.'

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