Editing C. S. Lewis (section)

===Second World War===
After the outbreak of the [[Second World War]] in 1939, the Lewises took [[Evacuations of civilians in Britain during World War II|child evacuees from London]] and other cities into [[The Kilns]].<ref name="tst">{{Cite book |title=C. S. Lewis: The Story Teller |last=Bingham |first=Derick |publisher=[[Christian Focus Publications]] |year=2004 |isbn=978-1-85792-487-9 |series=Trailblazers |pages=[https://archive.org/details/cslewisshiverofw0000bing/page/102 102-104] |url=https://archive.org/details/cslewisshiverofw0000bing }}</ref> Lewis was only 40 when the war began, and he tried to re-enter military service, offering to instruct cadets; however, his offer was not accepted. He rejected the recruiting office's suggestion of writing columns for the [[Ministry of Information (United Kingdom)|Ministry of Information]] in the press, as he did not want to "write lies"<ref name="tst2">{{Cite book |title=C. S. Lewis: The Story Teller |last=Bingham |first=Derick |publisher=CF4Kids |year=2004 |isbn=978-1857924879 |series=Trailblazers |page=[https://archive.org/details/cslewisshiverofw0000bing/page/105 105] |url=https://archive.org/details/cslewisshiverofw0000bing}}</ref> to deceive the enemy. He later served in the local [[Home Guard (United Kingdom)|Home Guard]] in Oxford.<ref name=tst2 />

From 1941 to 1943, Lewis spoke on religious programmes broadcast by [[BBC|the BBC]] from London while the city was under periodic [[The Blitz|air raids]].<ref name="tst3">{{Cite book |title=C. S. Lewis: The Story Teller |last=Bingham |first=Derick |year=2004 |isbn=978-1857924879 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/cslewisshiverofw0000bing/page/111 109-111] |publisher=Christian Focus |url=https://archive.org/details/cslewisshiverofw0000bing }}</ref> These broadcasts were appreciated by civilians and servicemen at that stage. For example, [[Donald Hardman|Air Chief Marshal Sir Donald Hardman]] wrote:

:"The war, the whole of life, everything tended to seem pointless. We needed, many of us, a key to the meaning of the universe. Lewis provided just that."<ref name="tst4">{{Cite book |title=C. S. Lewis: The Story Teller |last=Bingham |first=Derick |year=2004 |isbn=978-1857924879 |page=[https://archive.org/details/cslewisshiverofw0000bing/page/111 111] |publisher=Christian Focus |url=https://archive.org/details/cslewisshiverofw0000bing }}</ref>

The youthful [[Alistair Cooke]] was less impressed, and in 1944 described "the alarming vogue of Mr. C.S. Lewis" as an example of how wartime tends to "spawn so many quack religions and Messiahs".<ref>"Mr. Anthony at Oxford", ''New Republic'', 110 (24 April 1944): 579.</ref> The broadcasts were anthologized in ''Mere Christianity''. From 1941, Lewis was occupied at his summer holiday weekends visiting [[Royal Air Force|R.A.F.]] stations to speak on his faith, invited by [[Chaplain-in-Chief]] [[Maurice Edwards]].<ref name="tst5">{{Cite book |title=C. S. Lewis: The Story Teller |last=Bingham |first=Derick |year=2004 |isbn=978-1857924879 |page=[https://archive.org/details/cslewisshiverofw0000bing/page/112 112] |publisher=Christian Focus |url=https://archive.org/details/cslewisshiverofw0000bing }}</ref>

It was also during the same wartime period that Lewis was invited to become first President of the [[Socratic Club|Oxford Socratic Club]] in January 1942,<ref name="tst6">{{Cite book |title=C. S. Lewis: The Story Teller |last=Bingham |first=Derick |year=2004 |isbn=978-1857924879 |page=[https://archive.org/details/cslewisshiverofw0000bing/page/114 114] |publisher=Christian Focus |url=https://archive.org/details/cslewisshiverofw0000bing }}</ref> a position that he enthusiastically held until he resigned on appointment to [[University of Cambridge|Cambridge University]] in 1954.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/cs-lewis-50-years-after-his-death-a-new-scholarship-will-honour-his-literary-career |title=CS Lewis: 50 years after his death a new scholarship will honour his literary career |date=8 November 2013 |publisher=University of Cambridge |access-date=3 December 2019 |archive-date=3 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191203183601/https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/cs-lewis-50-years-after-his-death-a-new-scholarship-will-honour-his-literary-career |url-status=live }}</ref>