How Hilaire Belloc was a comfort in a time of awful tragedy

Hilaire Belloc: The Politics of Living is available from Chris at [email protected] and from Petworth Bookshop, Steyning Bookshop, Arundel Museum and Worthing Library.

Chris explained: “This is a book I have been meaning to write for a long time. For me, Hilaire Belloc (1870-1953) is far more than a writer. He has been my companion throughout my life. On returning from holidays, usually in the West Country, as a child, I remember my mum reciting Belloc’s The South Country as soon as we passed over the border from Hampshire into Sussex. It was almost a going-home ritual.

“In February 2017, our family was devastated by the loss of our son Oliver to suicide. No one should have to live through such a time as that – the indescribable sense of loss, the pain, the utter confusion, the hopelessness. My wife Ann found the courage and the love to create a charity, Olly’s Future, in Oliver’s memory, to celebrate his life and prevent other young people losing their lives to suicide.

“I did not do so well. I somehow managed to cope until after the funeral, and then just went to pieces, and remained in pieces for over two years. Thanks to the love, support and encouragement of family and friends, I slowly put those pieces back together again.

"My son Samuel and his partner Diana have brought two beautiful children – Magnus and Mabel – into our lives and I am whole again, but not in the same way I was before. My gratitude to those people will never dim, but I must also acknowledge the part that Belloc played in my survival: his writings and profound reflections on life and death gave me comfort and helped me keep my head above water when the rains were still falling and the waves still crashing onto the shore. Belloc knew loss. His wife died aged only 43. His son, Louis, was killed in the First World War, and his son, Peter, in the Second World War.

“More than that, Belloc was a perpetual outsider – half French and wholly Catholic – he did not fit easily into the Edwardian world of polite society and Anglican values. Like Belloc, I too had a political career that ended in disillusionment; like Belloc I have had a lifelong love of history; like Belloc I have cherished all my life the woods, rivers, valleys and the majestic downs of the South Country.

“In my book I have taken themes from Belloc’s life and writings that resonate with me and I hope they will strike a chord, too, with readers of this book. Belloc is not to everyone’s taste and many today associate him with outdated and reactionary views, including anti-semitism. I do not stint on discussing this side of Belloc. I do not apologise for him – he would never have wanted anyone to do that. What I do say is that he has been a good companion to me through the most awful time and for that I will always be truly thankful and, in a spiritual sense, I am in his debt. This book is my best attempt to pay homage to a remarkable man who lived life to the full, without fear or favour.”