A. N. Wilson was born in 1950 and educated at Rugby and New College, Oxford. He was a lecturer at St Hugh’s College and New College from 1976 to 1981, and was then appointed Literary Editor of the Spectator. He was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1981. His novels include The Sweets of Pimlico, The Healing Art, Wise Virgin and biographies of Walter Scott, Milton and Tolstoy.

‘The more biography he writes, the better he gets – his life of C. S. Lewis is his best yet. It’s a vivacious and compassionate book. Wilson’s range of interests – religious, literary, human-gossipy and Oxfordian – make him an ideal match for the subject.’ Andrew Motion, Observer‘Passionate, perspicacious, funny and inevitably partisan.’ Selina Hastings, Telegraph‘Wilson’s biography is admirable, probably the best imaginable … Mr Wilson is a brilliant biographer.’ Anthony Burgess, Independent‘It seems fitting that A. N. Wilson should now have written the definitive biography of Lewis, and it is a superb job.’ John Bayley, Guardian