-The master apologist did not ruminate about himself overmuch. Although he did take his experiences in life into account including his Belfast childhood rife with troubles at school, his service in war, his successes (which were not inconsiderable) at Oxford and Cambridge, his friendships, marriage and bereavement he believed those experiences to be not unique to himself but part of any life. In this he was exceedingly modest, and this set of essays on Lewis's life and work prove so in biographical pieces, critical reviews of works ranging from theology to fantasy, commentary on his role as a Christian intellectual, reviews of his work as a literary historian, tutor and lecturer, and considerations of him as a lover of words. —Reference & Research Book News

-Edwards...the author of five other books on C. S. Lewis, in part seeks to correct what he sees as failings in the approaches taken in recent Lewis biographies. These failings, he believes, include an emphasis on perceived personality defects in the author that taint the treatment of his religious conviction and scholarship and, in contrast, an excessive veneration in some biographies that has tended to reduce consideration of Lewis's scope and accomplishments to a few selected aspects of his life and work. To set the record straight, Edwards has gathered a wide-ranging and well-ordered group of essays from an international panel of contributors and divided them into four volumes meant to cover more comprehensively all major aspects of Lewis's life and career.... [T]his is the most thorough and current collection available of analysis and opinion on Lewis.... [R]ecommended for academic and large public libraries. —Library Journal