_Literary Giants, Literary Catholics_, published by Ignatius Press, by the traditional Catholic convert and apologist Joseph Pearce, consists of essays on a variety of topics dealing with Catholic culture and the primary literary figures involved in the Catholic revival which were originally published in various journals and especially in the _Saint Austin Review_. These essays focus on Catholic writers and thinkers who incorporated their Catholic beliefs into their art and writings and sought to defend the tradition of the Church against modernity. Joseph Pearce, a convert to Catholicism, regards himself to be a "cultural apologist" as opposed to a theologian or an apologist who relies strictly on rational arguments to defend the faith.

This book covers a wide variety of topics all dealing with the Catholic literary revival. The book begins by discussing this revival among the Victorians including the romantic movement influenced by Coleridge and Woodsworth, the traditionalist revolution in Anglicanism led by Cardinal Newman (who eventually converted to Roman Catholicism), and the art of the pre-Raphaelites. In addition, the Catholic revival came to effect the Decadents, who sought God in their own way as a means to overcome sin by facing the darkness, including Baudelaire, Huysmans, and Wilde (all of whom converted to Catholicism). Throughout this discussion, the relationship between tradition and conversion is explained. Pearce also discusses the role of tradition in modern English literature including T. S. Eliot, Evelyn Waugh, and Siegfried Sassoon. The second section of this book is devoted to essays featuring the apologetic duo, Hilaire Belloc and G. K. Chesterton (nicknamed "the Chesterbelloc" by George Bernard Shaw). Pearce shows how Roman Catholicism came to play an important part in the life of Chesterton who eventually converted. The writings of Belloc and Chesterton are both highly apologetic in nature and both focus on the economic theory of distributism, based on the social teachings of the Catholic church. Distributism provides a third way alternative to the excesses of both socialism and capitalism and is in agreement with the encyclical _Rerum Novarum_ of Pope Leo XIII. Pearce presents several interesting essays focusing on both Chesterton and Belloc, including an essay where he argues that both would oppose the modern European Union (contrary to the suggestion of another writer) and in which he exonerates Chesterton of the fascism smear (distributism being fundamentally and diametrically opposed to fascist statism). Essays on Maurice Baring, R. H. Benson, Maisie Ward, and John Seymour are also presented. The third section of this book deals with "the wasteland", particularly the aftermath of the First World War and the despair which followed. Pearce discusses poets who opposed the horrors of mass warfare including Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen. Pearce also discusses the modernism versus traditionalism at the root of T. S. Eliot and his epic poem _The Wasteland_ as well as the influence of Dante on Eliot. Pearce also discusses the modernist turned Catholic writer Evelyn Waugh as well as Roy Campbell who came to embrace Catholicism in Spain. The fourth section of this book is devoted to J. R. R. Tolkien and "the Inklings". Pearce discusses the Inklings including Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, Owen Barfield, and Charles Williams as well as the role of Christian orthodoxy in their writings. Tolkien's _Lord of the Rings_ trilogy presents a profoundly Catholic and Christian epic which has lent itself to many different allegorical interpretations. Indeed, the role that a "true North" as opposed to a false "Protestant" North plays in Tolkien's work is fully explained by Pearce. Finally, the fifth section of this book includes essays of a miscellaneous sort. These include essays discussing the Decadent path to Christ through darkness and sin as well as discussions of Oscar Wilde. Pearce argues that Wilde, who is perhaps most well known for the scandal that grew out of his homosexuality, had always had a profound love for the Catholic church leading to his eventual conversion towards the end of his life. According to Pearce, Wilde has been misunderstood as a proponent of homosexual rights, instead of properly understood as a man who sought peace and regarded his homosexuality as a sickness. Pearce also discusses Hollywood, both as a source of evil and as having the potential to do good, particularly noting the recent films _The Lord of the Rings_ and Mel Gibson's _The Passion of Christ_. Pearce also discusses poetry, including both Dante and Shakespeare (both of whom may have been Catholics). In addition, Pearce discusses the Catholicism and mystique of Salavador Dali, whose surreal paintings were underlain with Christian imagery. Pearce ends by dedicating an essay to the late Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, by providing a biographical piece detailing his own conversion from a militant anti-Catholic to the faith, and by ending with an essay on the Christmas season.

This book presents an important contribution to the study of Catholic literature. It provides not only an opportunity to study the faith through the works of some of this century's greatest writers, thinkers, and artists, but also with a unique selection of essays that enable one to see the true beauty that is the Catholic church.