The Idea of a Christian Society and Other Writings

In The Idea of a Christian Society, first published in 1939 and long since out of print, T. S. Eliot published with some revisions the lectures he had been invited to give at Cambridge earlier in the year. His thoughts were inevitably influenced by the momentous events of September 1938, but he makes it clear that his subject had been close to him for a number of years. His conception of it was largely the result of a general, long standing uneasiness about the ethics of British capitalism in the 1930s, and the consequences for mankind of a society virtually devoid of spiritual foundation.
In The Idea of a Christian Society the reader will find many of the themes which inspired Eliot's poetry and criticism. But the work was also described by a reviewer as 'an inspiration to Christian sociologists', and it is in his less well-known role of sociologist that Eliot primarily reveals himself here.

In his Introduction to this new edition David Edwards, Dean of Norwich, assesses Eliot the social thinker, frankly noting some of his shortcomings in this respect but also outlining how his attitudes would develop - for the notion of the Christian Society and al hat it implied was to remain with Eliot throughout his life. H would remain convinced that social regeneration could only be effected through a rediscovery of the central affirmations and insights of the Christian faith.

Also in this edition are reprinted some other relevant writings of Eliot - among them essays, articles, a broadcast, responses to reviewers - which have previously been accessible only with difficulty. Together with the original text they provide a renewed opportunity to engage in 'a discussion which must occupy many minds for a long time to come'.