Lord of the World

By Robert Hugh Benson

Book Overview

Lord of the World. Beautifully re-typeset with all Latin passages newly translated in notes. One of Pope Francis's favorite novels, Benson's 1907 apocalyptic tale of the Antichrist is one of the first modern dystopias. Humanism has eliminated world conflict but practices a subtle barbarism upon the human mind. Religion is either suppressed or ignored. The Catholic Church, confined to ghettos, occupies an increasingly perilous position in the public square. The populace turns toward euthanasia as the solution to bodily pain and spiritual crisis. Meanwhile, a mysterious figure of apparent hope, Julian Felsenburgh, rises to become the head of a single world government. The plot follows a priest, Father Percy Franklin, who finds himself caught up in the final and increasingly open struggle between Antichrist and Christ. Note: In this edition (ISBN 1507790503), Latin phrases are translated in footnotes. "Interesting it must be to all to whom the deepest convictions of a man's heart are of moment. And in the artistic balance and taste of Father Benson's literary power every reader will find delight." -- New York Times "Mr. Benson sees the world, ...generations hence, free at last from all minor quarrels, and ranged against itself in two camps, Humanitarianism for those who believe in no divinity but that of man, Catholicism for those who believe in no divinity but that of God." -- London Times "The book as art is beautiful, delicately balanced, deeply inspired, intelligently executed." --Putnam's Published by Ex Fontibus Company.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1507790503
• ISBN13: 9781507790502
• Release Date: February 2015
• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• Length: 318 Pages
• Weight: 1.08 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.8" x 6.0"

Customer Reviews

The Last of All

R.H. Benson wrote two mystical visions of the future. _The Dawn of All_ is an extremely romantic and improbable 1911 parable of a 1971 world mostly Catholic and at peace, ready for the Second Coming. _The Lord of the World_ came first, in 1907, and was a darker vision. A world of flying craft, major scientific advances, and comfort has become a place of materialist despair. Euthanasia is routine, for the desperately ill and the terminally bored. Oliver and Mabel Brand, a rising young couple, are the golden ones -- Oliver becomes a major political figure, but Mabel chooses the cool despairing end of legal euthanasia. Father Percy Franklin is one of the last Catholic priests in a world hostile to freedom, church, university, and history. Eventually elected the last Pope, he is restricted to the dusty forgotten village of Nazareth. Julian Felsenburgh is a charismatic American adventurer who means to and does become Lord of the World, anti-Christ. Details are less important than the very modern mood. Believing in progress as the only good, people are swept into any movement that promises it. The past is ruthlessly exterminated. The quest for one world government that begins with Esperanto ends with one world dictatorship.

An excellent edition of a classic book

This is an excellent edition of Benson's classic work. Unlike many other recent editions of Benson's books (Come Rack Come Rope, Oddsfish, etc.), this edition has not been abridged.It is the story of the future world from a turn of the century vantage point. Protestantism has fizzled, the Mason's have triumphed, and Catholicism is on the defensive. The world has divided into three parties, and a silver tongued savior comes to save the day. Benson believed that armageddon would more likely result from smooth talking and twisted ideologies than from naked evil.Although Benson may have over estimated the Masons and underestimated Protestants, he makes many surprisingly accurate predictions. The rhetoric used by the Bolshevists in Russia, the Nazi's in Germany, and the parties of the Spanish civil war was foreseen by Benson. The great white line Hitler painted around the Vatican and the Atomic bomb were also not beyond Benson's imagination. Unfortunately, only a small audience will appreciate this book, but that audience should include all Catholics who take ideas and the modern threat seriously. This book helps explain the beauty of pre-Vatican II ceremonies without siding against the changes of Vatican II.

The End of the World, Catholic Style!

As an evangelical with strong Catholic sympathies, I was excited to discover "Lord of the World" for another twist on the "Left Behind" scenario. The author writes at the dawn of the twentieth century and hits a few predictions about our world dead-on. But better yet is the sense of gravity Benson conveys in the novel. You really feel the earth coming to a conclusion, the ultimate clash of faith in God versus faith in Man.

Marvelous analysis of the end times and concurrent events

Msgr. Robert Benson analyses the end times and the influence of the antichrist upon government, individuals, and even the Church. His insightful approach and convincing arguments offer much for meditation regarding the direction of modern thought. Written at the turn of the century, Msgr. Benson's novel announces the conclusions of such trends with chilling accuracy. His style is simple, yet captivating, and far from striking terror and fear into his readers, however, Benson inspires with the Faith and the truths of salvation within the Church.