Pressing Forward: Alfred, Lord Tennyson and the Victorian Age [Paperback]

Louis A. Markos (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 15, 2007

Louis A. Markos places the poetry of Alfred, Lord Tennyson in the context of the crisis of faith that marked the Victorian Age, whose notable figures included Thomas Carlyle, Charles Darwin, John Ruskin, Matthew Arnold, Thomas Huxley, John Henry Newman, and John Stuart Mill. In particular Markos reveals the significance of Tennyson's great poem In Memoriam for the transition from Romantic to Victorian literature, as well as the importance of his Idylls of the King for its refusal to accede to the Victorian myth of progress. Tennyson emerges as a strong critic of the materialistic philosophy and literature of the period.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Typically we're encouraged to see the Victorians as if across a great gulf. Counterintuitively, Louis Markos argues that no past age so closely resembles our own. Whether or not you conclude that he makes his case, you will be glad you took the trip. Like the best of those "teaching tapes," Pressing Forward is at once learned and conversational, and I finished the book wishing for more. --John Wilson, editor, "Books & Culture"

Tennyson, one of the brightest stars of the Victorian literary firmament, has suffered partial eclipse in recent decades due to the systematic abuse of his reputation by deconstructed critics. It is, therefore, a great joy to see this great poet emerging from the shadows under the perspicacious focus of Louis Markos. This is a truly major study of a truly major poet. --Joseph Pearce, Ave Maria University

About the Author

Louis A. Markos received his doctorate from the University of Michigan and is a professor in English at Houston Baptist University. He is a C. S. Lewis scholar and the author of "Lewis Agonistes: How C.S. Lewis Can Train Us to Wrestle with the Modern & Postmodern World" (Broadman & Holman) and "The Life and Writings of C. S. Lewis" (a lecture series from The Teaching Company). His book, "From Achilles to Christ: Why Christians Should Read the Pagan Classics," is due out from InterVarsity Press in 2007. Markos has spoken widely all over the US and Oxford on topics ranging from C. S. Lewis to ancient Greece and Rome to Romantic and Victorian poetry.

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Sapientia Press of Ave Maria University (June 15, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1932589368
• ISBN-13: 978-1932589368
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,926,856 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Louis Markos (www.Loumarkos.com) holds a BA in English and History from Colgate University and an MA and PhD in English from the University of Michigan. He is a Professor of English and Scholar in Residence at Houston Baptist University, where he teaches courses on British Romantic and Victorian Poetry and Prose, the Classics, C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien, and Film. Dr. Markos holds the Robert H. Ray Chair in Humanities and teaches classes on Ancient Greece and Rome for HBU's Honors College. He is the author of six published books (see below) and two lecture series with the Teaching Company (The Life and Writings of C. S. Lewis; Plato to Postmodernism: Understanding the Essence of Literature and the Role of the Author). His A Christian Guide to the Study of Literature and On the Shoulders of Hobbits: What Tolkien can Teach us Today are both due out in 2012. He has also had five dozen articles and reviews published in such journals as Christianity Today, Touchstone, Theology Today, Christian Research Journal, Mythlore, Christian Scholar's Review, Saint Austin Review, American Arts Quarterly, and The City. He is a popular speaker in Houston, and has spoken on such topics as C. S. Lewis, ancient Greece, ancient Rome, and Dante in almost 20 states and in Oxford and Rome. He is committed to the concept of the Professor as Public Educator and believes that knowledge must not be walled up in the Academy but must be disseminated to all who have ears to hear. He lives in Houston with his wife, Donna, his son, Alex, and his daughter, Stacey.

Customer Reviews

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Convivio, December 13, 2009

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This review is from: Pressing Forward: Alfred, Lord Tennyson and the Victorian Age (Paperback)

Pressing Forward, Alfred Lord Tennyson and the Victorian age is a wonderful book to discover the intellectual roots from the Romantic to the Victorian age as delivered through the poets and their poetry. In addition to clarifying and interpreting Lord Tennyson's poetry and putting it into historical context, Professor Markos supports his explanations with the works and ideas of such great men as Cardinal Newman, Mill, Huxely, Carlyle, Ruskin, and Arnold amongst others. It is like being invited to a great dinner party with these extraordinary guests. Let Professor Markos, as Maitre D guide you through this excellent Convivio. Even more than reveling in great works of these great men while you converse with them, you will find in this book an education as Professor Markos puts the Victorian age and its greatest minds into proper historical perspective. You will not be disappointed.