Reading great literature well has the power to cultivate virtue. Great literature increases knowledge of and desire for the good life by showing readers what virtue looks like and where vice leads. It is not just what one reads but how one reads that cultivates virtue. Reading good literature well requires one to practice numerous virtues, such as patience, diligence, and prudence. And learning to judge wisely a character in a book, in turn, forms...

"The White Witch, Aslan, fauns and talking beasts, centaurs and epic battles between good and evil -- all these have become a part of our collective imagination through the classic volumes of The Chronicles of Narnia. Over the past half century, children everywhere have escaped into this world and delighted in its wonders and enchantments. Yet what we do know of the man who created Narnia? This biography sheds new light on the making of the original...

Gary Colledge examines Dickens's novels, letters, and other writings to explore his Christian thought and worldview. Chapters examine Dickens's life and work topically, arguing that Christian faith was front and center in some of what he wrote (such as his children's work The Life of Our Lord) and saliently implicit throughout various other characters and plots. --from publisher description.