Lord of the World [Paperback]

Robert Hugh Benson (Author), Roman Catholic Church (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2006 | Series: Saint Benedict Press Classics

Described by Fulton Sheen as one of the three greatest depictions of the advent of the demonic in world literature, Lord of the World is science fiction with a difference. The West has succumbed to a sort of international socialism. The forces of secular materialism, relativism and state control are everywhere triumphant. Protestantism is no more, and Catholicism which had made some major advances in the first half of the twentieth century has been devastated by the development of new psychologies and the exodus of intellectuals in the wake of an Ecumenical Council. Euthanasia has become an instrument of the state, Esperanto the universal second language. Nevertheless, although organised religion has largely collapsed in the face of institutional secularism, a vague, humanistic religiosity militantly hostile to the exclusive and supernatural claims of the Church is present everywhere. Finally, the East, which has amalgamated into a single, pantheistic bloc, continues to pose a military threat. Enter Julian Felsenberg diplomat, scholar, guru, Antichrist...

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Interesting it must be to all to whom the deepest convictions of a man's heart are of moment. And in the artistic balance and taste of Father Benson's literary power every reader will find delight." -- New York Times<br /><br />"Mr. Benson sees the world, four or five generations hence [this review was written in 1906], free at last from all minor quarrels, and ranged against itself in two camps, Humanitarianism for those who believe in no divinity but that of man, Catholicism for those who believe in no divinity but that of God." -- London Times<br /><br />"The book as art is beautiful, delicately balanced, deeply inspired, intelligently executed." --Putnam's --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Publisher

LORD OF THE WORLD is a bitingly satiric science fiction novel of a secularized world state. As Rosa Mulholland, Lady Gilbert, declared, "It is a brilliant, beautiful, and terrible book," a judgment in which the public has fully concurred for nearly a century. LORD OF THE WORLD is the only one of Benson’s novels to remain continually in print from its first publication in 1907 down to the present day. Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen declared, "The three great apocalyptic pieces of literature dealing with the advent of the satanic are Father Hugh Benson’s LORD OF THE WORLD, Dostoyevsky’s THE BROTHERS KARAMOZOV, and Soloviev’s THREE CONVERSATIONS ON WAR." --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Baronius Press Ltd; 1st Edition edition (September 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1905574185
• ISBN-13: 978-1905574186
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,010,238 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

93 of 94 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent edition of a classic book, February 26, 2002

By 

Clark Massey - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lord of the World (Hardcover)

This is an excellent edition of Benson's classic work. Unlike many other recent editions of Benson's books (Come Rack Come Rope, Oddsfish, etc.), this edition has not been abridged.
It is the story of the future world from a turn of the century vantage point. Protestantism has fizzled, the Mason's have triumphed, and Catholicism is on the defensive. The world has divided into three parties, and a silver tongued savior comes to save the day. Benson believed that armageddon would more likely result from smooth talking and twisted ideologies than from naked evil.
Although Benson may have over estimated the Masons and underestimated Protestants, he makes many surprisingly accurate predictions. The rhetoric used by the Bolshevists in Russia, the Nazi's in Germany, and the parties of the Spanish civil war was foreseen by Benson. The great white line Hitler painted around the Vatican and the Atomic bomb were also not beyond Benson's imagination.
Unfortunately, only a small audience will appreciate this book, but that audience should include all Catholics who take ideas and the modern threat seriously. This book helps explain the beauty of pre-Vatican II ceremonies without siding against the changes of Vatican II.

68 of 70 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Last of All, September 1, 2002

By 

Kathleen C. Griffin (Bronx NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lord of the World (Paperback)

R.H. Benson wrote two mystical visions of the future. _The Dawn of All_ is an extremely romantic and improbable 1911 parable of a 1971 world mostly Catholic and at peace, ready for the Second Coming. _The Lord of the World_ came first, in 1907, and was a darker vision. A world of flying craft, major scientific advances, and comfort has become a place of materialist despair. Euthanasia is routine, for the desperately ill and the terminally bored. Oliver and Mabel Brand, a rising young couple, are the golden ones -- Oliver becomes a major political figure, but Mabel chooses the cool despairing end of legal euthanasia. Father Percy Franklin is one of the last Catholic priests in a world hostile to freedom, church, university, and history. Eventually elected the last Pope, he is restricted to the dusty forgotten village of Nazareth. Julian Felsenburgh is a charismatic American adventurer who means to and does become Lord of the World, anti-Christ. Details are less important than the very modern mood. Believing in progress as the only good, people are swept into any movement that promises it. The past is ruthlessly exterminated. The quest for one world government that begins with Esperanto ends with one world dictatorship.

36 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Marvelous analysis of the end times and concurrent events, July 27, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Lord of the World (Science Fiction Series) (Hardcover)

Msgr. Robert Benson analyses the end times and the influence of the antichrist upon government, individuals, and even the Church. His insightful approach and convincing arguments offer much for meditation regarding the direction of modern thought. Written at the turn of the century, Msgr. Benson's novel announces the conclusions of such trends with chilling accuracy. His style is simple, yet captivating, and far from striking terror and fear into his readers, however, Benson inspires with the Faith and the truths of salvation within the Church.