Hilaire Belloc, the Politics of Living

Hilaire Belloc, though born in France in 1870, spent his youth and most of his adult life in Sussex, living first in Slindon, and then later at Shipley. This talk will include extracts from Belloc’s many essays and poems eulogising his adopted county; but it will also explore the deeply spiritual side of this great man, who lamented the increasing materialism of the western world. Belloc’s predictions of the challenges and threats that would assail us in our own times appear uncannily accurate today. Belloc was loyal and dependable to his friends and family, but he was also prepared to court unpopularity in standing up for causes he believed needed to be defended.