George MacDonald: A Biography of Scotland's Beloved Storyteller

Scotland's beloved storyteller
George MacDonald, nineteenth-century Scottish novelist and poet, was reintroduced to twentieth century Christians by C.S. Lewis, whose reading of MacDonald's Phantastes triggered his own spiritual awakening and conversion. Other renowned writers have voiced similar acknowledgements. G.K. Chesterton said of MacDonald, "If we test the matter of originality of attitude, George MacDonald was one of the three or four greatest men of the nineteenth century." W.H. Auden adds, "In his power . . . to project his inner life into images . . . which are valid for all, he is one of the most remarkable writers of the nineteenth century." Despite acclaim by his peers, historians, Christian statesmen, and literary giants of the past 100 years, MacDonald's life and writings continue to be a source of controversy. Challenging the traditional religious views of his day, MacDonald was continually stretching, reaching, probing, questioning, and searching for truth. Author Michael R. Phillips leads the listener through those controversies to bring a fresh and insightful look at the man, his times, and his work.

MICHAEL PHILLIPS (b.1946), one of many in a rising generation of spiritual offspring of C.S. Lewis, George MacDonald, and the legacy of the Inklings, has made it his life's passion to promote the teachings of these giants of the past. Following the tradition of C.S. Lewis, he stands with others through the years who have shared a vision to awaken interest in the man known as the Father of the Inklings, including the names Kilby, Yates, Hein, Sadler, Reis, Robb, Amell, Triggs, Raeper, and many contributors to this important work. Through their efforts, MacDonald's legacy lives on in the lives of thousands of spiritual grandsons and granddaughters. Michael Phillips is widely known as George MacDonald's redactor, publisher, and biographer, whose vision and editorial expertise building upon the forerunning work of C.S. Lewis, Elizabeth Yates, and Rolland Hein helped bring MacDonald back from obscurity in the 1980s when his realistic novels had been nearly forgotten.