Even though he died a quarter of a century ago this year (Nov.22, 1973), Oxbridge don C.S. Lewis remains a publishing phenomenon: his books now sell some 2,000,000 copies a year in Great Britain and this country. Moreover, of the 100 entries under Lewis's name in Books In Print, 89 have copyright dates later than Lewis's death. In addition, the items bearing the name C.S. Lewis include sweatshirts, coffee mugs, aprons, calendars and a coffee table book C.S. Lewis: Images of His World.
As Michael Nelson notes, the perennially popular Lewis was the most unprepossessing of men. He set little store by his reputation. Mr. Nelson's essay on the life and works of C.S. Lewis is something of a departure from his usual appointed rounds. Rather than theology, science fiction, and children's literature—all subjects of the versatile Lewis—Mr. Nelson has devoted his career to an examination of the art of the possible, namely, politics. An associate professor of political science at Vanderbilt University, he is an authority on the U.S. presidency and editor and co-author of The Presidency and the Political System, as well as The Elections of 1984.
It was 40 years ago this year that mounting friction between the Soviet Union and Western Allies resulted in withdrawal of the Soviets from joint governorship of Berlin and the split of the former German capital into two separate cities. Four decades ago this year, too, the Soviets began their blockade of West Berlin, one relieved by the vast Western airlift which eventually caused the Russians to relent. Yet, while the Berlin blockade and airlift are considered major milestones in the Cold War, Jean Edward Smith points out that "throughout 1945 and 1946, when relations between Washington and Moscow progressively deteriorated, cooperation between the U. S. military government in Germany and its Russian counterpart remained remarkably cordial.... In fact, General Lucius D. Clay, who was the U.S. military governor in Germany, believed that American policy-makers in Washington were being duped by hard-line British diplomats into taking unwarranted anti-Soviet positions."
