HILAIRE BELLOC: NO ALIENATED MAN

The additional sub-title: ""A Study in Christian Integration"" casts further light on the scope and purpose of this book. It is not a biography, nor yet a book of literary criticism. It is rather an interpretation of the man and his message with the purpose of showing that the many facets through which Belloc expressed himself issued from a completely integrated personality with a single dominating purpose. To make his point, Wilhelmsen gives an interpretation of several of his more important writings especially ""The Four Men"", in which the characters of the poet, the sailor, ""grizzlebeard"" and ""myself"" are taken as a self-portrait. The integrating factor in Belloc's life and writing was his Catholic faith, and only in the light of that faith, strongly held and vigorously championed, can one understand Belloc's conception of history and his approach to contemporary economic, social and religious problems. There will be many who will disagree with the point of view of the author, just as there have been many antagonized by Belloc. One can disagree with Belloc, but one cannot ignore him. For students of English literature, historians and those interested in the role of religion in modern life this interpretation will be valuable.