Alison Milbank

Creation and Beauty in Tolkien’s Catholic Vision

Arts & Literature

“This is a rich engagement at all levels with Tolkien, full of suggestive comparisons with the tradition of the music of the spheres and with the modernist music of his own time. It is deeply scholarly but clear and accessible. And it is both Catholic in relating Tolkien to Catholic theology, including Maritain, and the Thomism of the early twentieth century, but also in its range of reference, which does full justice to Tolkien's intellectual background and his generosity of spirit, which had room for wild-men and oliphants, wereworms and Barliman's best bitter, all with the mark of createdness upon them, gifted to his readers.”

Middle-earth and the Return of the Common Good

Philosophy

“Hren demonstrates compellingly that Tolkien’s fiction offers us ways in which to conceive the entirety of our life together politically, philosophically, and ethically.”

Mystic Bonfires

Prayer & Spiritual Formation

“In a time of global anxiety, we need spiritual resources and practices as never before. Mystic Bonfires will be immensely valuable in guiding young people especially in the fourteenth-century mystical tradition, which is so practical and attractive in its theology of love. The book offers a unique introduction to the wisdom of Walter Hilton, who unlike many, wrote explicitly for ordinary Christians in their working lives.”

Seeing Things as They Are

Philosophy

“For far too long Chesterton has been undervalued as a philosopher, and the radicalism of his thought unacknowledged. Duncan Reyburn's superb exploration of the dramatic nature of his hermeneutics is thus a timely and original contribution to Chesterton studies, revealing on what resilient theological basis the sparkling epigrams depend.”