The Last Romantic

"This beautifully crafted book sets the religious writings of Lewis within the context of German idealism and English Romanticism. Barbeau brilliantly draws upon the marginalia in books from Lewis's own library to place him within the tradition of Methodism, the poetry of Wordsworth and Coleridge, and the philosophy of Schleiermacher, Hegel, and Feuerbach. In the construction of theological language, Lewis is revealed afresh as a deeply learned, sensitive, and serious Christian thinker."

-David Jasper, honorary professional research fellow for the School of Critical Studies at the University of Glasgow

"Jeffrey W. Barbeau's eloquent and accessible lectures look past the blinding assumptions of standard intellectual history to discover a modern C. S. Lewis inspired by religious Romanticism—a vital, creative tradition of poetry and thought that unites the subjective and objective, the personal and the divine. Lewis's place in this visionary company was there all along, expressed in his stories, essays, self-representations, and previously unpublished marginalia. Thanks to Barbeau, we may also see that Lewis, like Elijah on Horeb, was not alone as the last inspiring, faithful Romantic."

-Michael Tomko, professor of humanities at Villanova University and author of Beyond the Willing Suspension of Disbelief: Poetic Faith from Coleridge to Tolkien

"The Last Romantic—a bold claim about Lewis, yet one that Barbeau fully supports with fascinating detail—offers not only the best guide to Lewis's engagement with the Romantics, it is also a wonderful study of Lewis's thought and faith in general, as well as a wise meditation on connections between modern theology and the Romantic imagination. Enter this wardrobe and you will not come out the same."

-James Engell, Gurney Research Professor of English Literature at Harvard University

"As a scholar, Professor Barbeau does not disappoint. He has done remarkable research teasing out the degree to which C. S. Lewis was affected by the English Romantics, which he says was pervasive and primary. His style is winsome and engaging. Did he make the case? Let the reader decide. I must say, I enjoyed the book and discovered some things I had not seen before. It is a good read!"

-Jerry Root, Lewis scholar and professor emeritus at Wheaton College