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Brett McKay here and welcome to another edition of the Art of Manliness Pocky Eyes.

Both the lower the rings and the Chronicles of Darnia are filled with epic battles between the forces of good and evil.

What many people don't realize that the author of these two works,

J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, had first-hand experience with the war themselves.

Both fought the bleak trenches of World War I and both were dramatically shaped by that experience in a way that would influence their later work.

My guest to explore is the history of Tolkien's and Lewis' battlefield experience and how it influenced their viewpoints and writing careers.

His name is Joseph Laconte, he's a professor of history at King's College in the author of a Hobbit, a wardrobe on the Great War.

How J.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis were discovered faith, friendship and heroism in the cataclysm of 1914 and 1918.

On today's show, Joseph and I discuss what C.S. Lewis called the myth of progress that swept the Western world, lean up the First World,

and why contributed the war's catastrophic damage, and how the myth shaped both Lewis's and Tolkien's view about good, evil, and warfare.

We then get into detail about Tolkien's and Lewis' battlefield experience and how it inspires specific characters and scenes in the respective works.

And then we end our conversation about how the fantasy work of these writers carved a middle path between cynicism and unbridled optimism,

while simultaneously showing readers that even the lowliest of individuals can play a decisive role in the great adventure of life.

If you're a fan of Lord of the Rings or the Chronicles of Narnia, you don't want to miss this episode.

After the show is over, check out the show notes at a-wim.is slash Hobbit Borgia.

Joseph Luconte, welcome to the show.

Well, thanks for having me, Brett. It's great to be with you.

So you wrote a book called A Hobbit, A Wardrobe, and A Great War.

It's all about C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien's experience in the trenches of World War I and how it influenced their lives and later on their writing.

I'm curious what prompted you to look at their war experience specifically to see how that influenced their writing and the Chronicles of Narnia and the Lord of the Rings series?

Yeah, well, there are several things, Brett. I teach Western civilization and American foreign policy at the King's College of New York City,

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