Education and History

By: C. S. Lewis

Narrated by: Ralph Cosham

Length: 3 hrs and 11 mins

Publisher's summary

This volume of short essays and other pieces by C. S. Lewis is part of a larger collection, C. S. Lewis: Essay Collection and Other Short Pieces. In addition to his many books, letters, and poems, C. S. Lewis wrote a great number of essays and shorter pieces on various subjects. He wrote extensively on Christian theology and the defense of faith but also on ethical issues and the nature of literature and storytelling. Within this audiobook is a treasure trove of Lewis' reflections on diverse topics.

This volume includes:

1. Learning in War-Time

2. Bulverism, or The Foundation of Twentieth-Century Thought

3. The Founding of the Oxford Socratic Club

4. My First School

5. Democratic Education

6. Blimpophobia

7. Private Bates

8. Meditation in a Toolshed

9. On the Transmission of Christianity

10. Modern Man and His Categories of Thought

11. Historicism

12. The Empty Universe

13. Interim Report

14. Is History Bunk?

15. Before We Can Communicate

Public Domain (P)2013 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Brilliant

I hadn’t read any CS Lewis except the children’s books, Screwtape letters, and scifi. These essays provide insight into his formidable scholarly work.

Amazing!

Lewis has become, without a shadow of a doubt, my favorite author and his commentary on education and religion, especially in democratic society, is unparalleled

Lewis' knack for making the complex clear

This book is a collection of 15 short essays by C. S. Lewis is part and all are also found in other books, but this one focuses completely on the two topics of education and history.
Interestingly, C. S. Lewis hated school as a child. He was placed in a boarding school, fairly typical for those in his social class at that time, which he compared to a concentration camp and a learning factory, locking children up, sending them through an assembly line, and expecting a collection of similar products coming out at the end. He was bullied and that became a familiar topic in his children’s books. Eventually his father decided to provide private tutoring for him and one particular tutor, William Kirkpatrick, made a particular impact on him, instilling in him the love for logic and for the classics that so greatly influenced his later writings and, though the tutor (as well as Lewis at that time) was an atheist, he probably laid the foundation for Lewis’ effectiveness as a Christian apologist later.
An interesting chapter related to this was “My First School,” which reminded me of my own difficulties in getting through school, not due to being bullied, but just having to fit into a system and on an artificial schedule which left me feeling bored and unable to concentrate in class. An earlier essay, “Learning in War-Time,” was also interesting in how he argues that the difficulties experienced as Britain was often under threat of being bombed were not truly the result of the war but were always there and just made more obvious by the war. It was an interesting read as I thought of the stresses on our own educational system during the Covid-19 crisis.
Lewis was also keenly interested in history and I enjoyed his chapter “ Is History Bunk?” Part of the attraction to this topic was remembering Henry Ford’s famous line, “History is more or less bunk,” though Ford’s statement is often taken out of context and doesn’t mean what it probably seems to mean by itself. But for Lewis, history was certainly important and this is a good essay for understanding his thoughts.
But, I highly recommend his essay, “Before We Can Communicate,” especially appropriate today. Lewis points to the importance of defining a shared vocabulary. If we don’t mean the same thing by the terms we use, we may be arguing around each other without ever understanding what the other person actually believes.
This is not something to read quickly at one setting since each chapter is a different essay so it is best to stop between each one to think and reflect. But it is not difficult reading. Lewis has a knack for writing in a clear and easily understood way. And it is easy to skip a chapter you aren’t interested in, though I didn’t find any that fit that bill.

Fun and Interesting

I particularly enjoyed this short collection of Lewis’ works as it had several works I had not read before. As the title indicates this collection primarily include writings on Education & History. I think they are primarily of interest to those who love near anything Lewis writes, such as myself, or those with a particular interest on those subjects he writes on which, to be honest, are all pretty niche.

Very helpful for getting insight into our times

This is amother amazing book by Lewis. It is very insightful on a number of intellectual but commonly relevant topics. Very helpful for getting insight into our timesI I need to read it again to follow the arguments more clearly. It makes me wish I had taken up the academic life. Lewis makes thinking and study seem so enjoyable and leisurely. That these thoughts come from about 100 years ago reminds us that people have been facing the same problems we face now for a long time already, and things take much longer to develop and mature than we imagine, certainly more than our lifetimes. That reminds us also that what we do here and now, what we teach, during our lifetime has powerful effect on future ages.

Lewis is timeless.

This is a Fantastic book with a great narrator. I can’t get enough of Lewis’ timeless wisdom.

lovely collection about education and history

Every short essay had nuggets of wisdom. I'll listen another time or two. Great stuff.

Clear observations and good reasoning

A good overview of modern history with a practical and philosophical discussion of several concepts; including societal changes, trends and beliefs that were more recently evolved at the time of publication, but have since become common in our day. He specifically addresses logical fallacies which are so prevalent that we don't notice their existence. It has a strong message about why clear thinking and the pursuit of education are important regardless of the difficulties in life.