A young academic is drawn towards activism when she is increasingly troubled by the growing threat of biocides. Through Virginia Brooke, Barfield charts the mental and spiritual journey of a thinking person - and, by extension, of all thinking persons - faced with "the need for action and the obligation to take it". From environmental thriller to Iron Age settlement, domestic estrangement and the alienation of Man from Nature, Barfield's last work of fiction will continue to delight admirers and provoke a fresh generation of thinkers. Owen Barfield is one of the twentieth century's most significant philosophers. He is widely known for his explorations of human consciousness, the history of language, the origins of poetic effect, and cross-disciplinary thought. A member of the Inklings, an Oxford group of scholars, Barfield's thinking informed the writings of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R Tolkien, among others. Eager Spring is Barfield's 'eco-novella', written when the author was almost 90.

Eager Spring

Literature & Fiction

Barfield, Owen

Contemporary

Barfield Press UK

Set in a dystopian future, humanity has been driven underground by fears of terrorist attack. Dwelling in the sewers of an abandoned city, society is closed, crowded, obsessed with security and its own biological processes. In our post-9/11 world, Barfield's portrayal of the repressive, claustrophobic effects of anxiety on human communities is startlingly timely. Night Operation is a contemporary allegory on the fall and potential rise of humanity. Owen Barfield is one of the twentieth century's most significant philosophers. He is widely known for his explorations of human consciousness, the history of language, the origins of poetic effect, and cross-disciplinary thought. A member of the Inklings, an Oxford group of scholars, Barfield's thinking informed the writings of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R Tolkien, among others. Night Operation is Barfield's only work of science fiction. His vision of society at an evolutionary turning point is original, daring and prophetic.

Night Operation

Literary

The Rose on the Ash-Heap is the epilogue from 'English People' - Barfield's ambitious unpublished novel of English life between the First and Second World Wars. At once fairy tale, societal critique, romance and apocalyptic vision, it discloses the redemptive powers of love and imagination. Sultan, Lord of all the Asias, falls passionately in love with a beautiful and elusive temple dancer. He pursues her across continents, all the way to Albion, where the Lord of Albion - guardian of all that is good in the English spirit - confronts the overwhelming threat of Abdol and the forces of materialism. Written in the late 1920s, a time of widespread societal and economic instability, The Rose on the Ash-Heap also addresses the deepest concerns and hopes of the twenty-first century. Owen Barfield is one of the twentieth century's most significant writers and philosophers. A member of the Inklings, the Oxford literary group which included C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, Barfield's ideas and literary artistry influenced both Lewis and Tolkien, and won praise from many of the foremost literary figures of the century. Praise for Owen Barfield: "A prolific and interesting thinker" - Times Literary Supplement "The wisest and best of my unofficial teachers."- C.S.Lewis "A masterpiece ... of prophetic value" - T.S.Eliot "..possibly the clearest and most searching thinker of the present time" - Howard Nemerov

The Rose on the Ash-Heap

What does it mean to be human? 'The Case for Anthroposophy' invites us to explore human nature in the true scientific spirit, "a will to know and a refusal to accept boundaries except for the purpose of overthrowing them" (Owen Barfield, "Introduction"). Doing so, we discover that we are essentially spiritual beings. Internationally renowned for his books about language, the imagination, and the evolution of consciousness, Owen Barfield found that his own researches were consistently confirmed, deepened, and enlarged by anthroposophy, the science of the spirit inaugurated by Rudolf Steiner. For almost three quarters of a century, from 1923 until his death in December 1997, Barfield actively studied anthroposophy. Those who are interested in his life and work will find this volume particularly valuable, not only because it so lucidly and powerfully sets forth the case for the science of the spirit that Barfield himself practiced, but also because it is a splendid example of Barfield's outstanding skill as translator and editor.

The Case for Anthroposophy

Politics & Social Sciences

Rudolf, Steiner

Rudolf Steiner, Steiner

Philosophy

First published in 1928, 'Poetic Diction: A study in Meaning' presents not merely a theory of poetic diction but also a theory of poetry and a theory of knowledge. "Language has preserved for us the inner, living history of man's soul. It reveals the evolution of consciousness." Owen Barfield Owen Barfield is one of the twentieth century's most significant writers and philosophers. A member of the Inklings, Barfield's ideas and literary artistry influenced fellow-Inklings C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, and won praise from many of the foremost literary figures of the century. Praise for Owen Barfield: "A prolific and interesting thinker" - Times Literary Supplement "The wisest and best of my unofficial teachers."- C.S.Lewis "A masterpiece ... of prophetic value" - T.S.Eliot "possibly the clearest and most searching thinker of the present time" - Howard Nemerov

Poetic Diction: A Study in Meaning

History & Criticism

This Ever Diverse Pair was first published in 1950, when Barfield was practising as a solicitor in London. A humorous portrayal of everyday life in a lawyer's office, the novel's true subject is what C.S. Lewis described as "the rift in every life between the human person and his public persona - between, say, the man and the bus conductor or the man and the king..." Owen Barfield is one of the twentieth century's most significant writers and philosophers. Widely renowned for his insight and literary artistry, Barfield addresses key concerns of the sciences, humanities, social sciences, and arts in our time. His fellow Inklings, C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, are among the leading figures influenced by Barfield's work. "A work of art and more original than anything I have read for a long time" - C.S. Lewis

This Ever Diverse Pair

Humor & Satire

Worlds Apart: A Dialogue of the 60's is a fictional conversation among eight people: a physicist, a biologist, a theologian, a philosopher, a psychiatrist, a teacher, a rocket scientist, and a lawyer. Energetic, wide-ranging and deeply penetrating, this brilliantly witty book points toward a solution to a major problem of our time, the gap between specializations. As the sheer bulk of human knowledge demands ever increasing specialization, is man losing sight of the wholeness of life? Owen Barfield is one of the twentieth century's most significant writers and thinkers. Widely renowned for his insight and literary artistry, Barfield addresses key concerns of the sciences, humanities, social sciences, and arts in our time. His fellow Inklings, C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, are among the leading figures influenced by Barfield's work. "A journey into seas of thought very far from ordinary routes of intellectual shipping" T.S. Eliot

Worlds Apart: A Dialogue of the 1960's

Unancestral Voice is the story of a modern-day spiritual quest. Step by step, Barfield explores the power of the creative imagination to meet the great challenges of our time. "This book has a remarkable unity; it is a well-sustained defence of a very consistent theme - that of the 'evolution of consciousness' " - Frontier "The voice of each one's mind speaking from the depths within himself" - Owen Barfield "A clear, powerful thinker, and a subtle one." Saul Bellow Owen Barfield is one of the twentieth century's most significant writers and philosophers. Widely renowned for his insight and literary artistry, Barfield addresses key concerns of the sciences, humanities, social sciences, and arts in our time. His fellow Inklings, C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, are among the leading figures influenced by Barfield's work.

Unancestral Voice

'Saving the Appearances' is about the world as we see it and the world as it is. It is about God, nature and the evolution of consciousness. Barfield takes us on an epic journey through the history of human thought - from the primordial consciousness of early man to that of our own times, evoking a wide range of sources including anthropology, physics, theology, and linguistics. "Owen Barfield is a paradigm-busting Christian thinker, and this is a book that will not go out of date."

Saving the Appearances: A Study in Idolatry

Religion & Spirituality

'Owen Barfield on C.S. Lewis' is a collection of essays and lectures about the author, theologian, and literary scholar, C. S. Lewis. Barfield and Lewis were close friends for 44 years, from their Oxford days after WWI to Lewis's death in 1963. Barfield's reflections on their relationship ended only with his own passing, in his hundredth year. Barfield was instrumental in converting Lewis to theism. However, the two disagreed on many points, and it is that creative dialectic which defines and irradiates their friendship: "In an argument we always, both of us, were arguing for the truth, not for victory" (Owen Barfield). C.S. Lewis on Owen Barfield: "The wisest and best of my unofficial teachers." "Barfield towers above us all." To Walter Field: "You notice when Owen and I are talking metaphysics which you don't follow: you don't notice the times when you and Owen are talking economics which I can't follow. Owen is the only one who is never out of his depth."

Owen Barfield on C.S. Lewis

Biographies & Memoirs

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Books by Barfield Press UK