Researcher provides documentary background.
14 Nov 2013
Social history researcher Dr Lucy Noakes participates in a BBC Radio 4 documentary entitled ‘The Brave New World’ about the work of writers C.S. Lewis and Aldous Huxley examining some of the authors' seminal works - Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia and Huxley's Brave New World, to explore some of the ideas and visions of the future that made Lewis and Huxley such influential and prophetic figures of the 20th century. Both writers died on 22 November 1963, the same day that President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, an act which was seen as putting an end to the prospect of a new and optimistic era.
The programme is set against the backdrop of some of the key events in 20th century history that shaped and influenced literary and political thinking such as the rise of facism, the First and Second World Wars, and the development of modern consumer culture.
The programme features historic audio from the BBC's archives featuring the voices of C S Lewis and Aldous Huxley.
Dr Noakes is a social and cultural historian whose research focuses on the British experience and memory of total warfare in the twentieth century with a particular emphasis on gender.
You can listen to Dr Noakes in The Brave New World on the BBC’s iPlayer.
Image: C.S.Lewis
