"In my opinion, based on decades of reading, Hilaire Belloc is not only a gifted essayist and social polemicist but also a perceptive biographer of major figures of Western history, especially in the English and French ambits. He had a keen eye for psychology, context, influence, and larger ramifications.'' Dr Peter Kwasniewski

 

Two of Hilaire Belloc’s great histories, Charles II and James II, are back in print via Mysterium Press in premium re-typeset hardback editions. These essential works were first published in 1928 and 1939 and have been out of print for years. 

Charles II and James II are the final instalments in a series of six books, which cover Belloc’s portraits of key figures in English history, from the dawn of the Reformation to the end of the Restoration. 

Charles II profiles the popular and adroit monarch whose whole object was to restore the national kingship. Belloc shows that in the process of weathering a tempestuous course, Charles made fatal acts of compromise to achieve his improbable task. 

James II tells the story of the last king of England’s ancient monarchy. Honourable and determined, but blighted by poor judgement and naivety, James faced insuperable odds against the money power. When the king became a Catholic his fate was sealed, and the nation’s dynasty was finally usurped.

Charles II and James II will both be released on 21 May, 2026, with pre-orders now shipping from www.mysteriumpress.com. They will shortly be available in the USA via Os Justi Press.

Hilaire Belloc’s Cromwell and Charles I back in print...

Two of Hilaire Belloc’s histories, 'Cromwell' and 'Charles I', are back in print via Mysterium Press in premium re-typeset hardback editions. These works were first published in the 1930s and have been out of print for years. 

'Cromwell' and 'Charles I' are the third and fourth instalments (following 'Wolsey' and 'Cranmer') in a planned series of six books, which cover Belloc’s portraits of key figures in English history, from the dawn of the Reformation, to the end of the Restoration.

Cromwell and Charles I will both be released on 9 October, 2025, with pre-orders now shipping from www.mysteriumpress.com 

Cromwell profiles the “Lord Protector” Oliver Cromwell: the country squire who engineered Charles I’s execution. Belloc maps the Puritan’s dark quest in which he ordered up the deaths of innocents to carve out an unpopular and shortlived republic. 

Charles I tells the story of the principled and rueful Stuart monarch. 

Praise for Hilaire Belloc:

‘The last of the giants of the golden age of English literature’ Daily Express

‘He was a prophet’ Ronald Knox

Praise for Our Editions ‘Very handsome new hardcover editions’ Joseph Pearce, The Imaginative Conservative

Festival of Chichester - Hilaire Belloc talk on the 16th of July at 7.30 PM (Chichester Centre Arts Centre)...

Sussex writer and poet, Hilaire Belloc, lived life to the full: he wrote on many subjects, travelled extensively, was a Member of Parliament, an avid historian, a man of deep spiritual faith, and a great lover of all things Sussex. Historian Chris Hare explores the life and times of this remarkable man.

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.

Tickets are £8.50, available online. Early bird £7.50.

Essays of a Catholic, Hills and the Sea, and The First and Last...

 

"Hilaire Belloc, one of the greatest masters of the essay form in English, and one whose writing has the capacity to teach a prosaic age what words can achieve. Known for his vigorous, stately, yet subtle prose, Belloc wrote histories, biographies, religious and cultural apologetics, poetry, economic studies, and other words across a long and prolific career. Yet it is in his essays that he achieves his greatest work. There, Belloc's art reaches that perfection in which the indivisible unite of thought, style, and the man, is forged." -- from the Foreword by David M. Whalen

With a brand new foreword written by David M. Whalen, Associate Vice President for Curriculum and Professor of English, Hillsdale College, The Cenacle Press is pleased to present this republication of 3 volumes of essays from the renowned author, Hilaire Belloc.

Essays of a Catholic, Hills and the Sea, and The First and Last, develop different themes so dear to Belloc's heart. Essays of a Catholic explores the nature & political life of modern man from a Catholic perspective. Hills and the Sea consists of musings and inquiries into the nature and means of travel and exploration. Finally, The First and Last contains deep essays on the nature of reality, of history, and ends of man. All essays contain his depth of insight and witty humor that carry you through page by page.

Cenacle Press' volumes are printed as a cloth back with sewn binding, and silk screen and gold foil stamping finish on the cover. It is a volume that all true book lovers will want to have in their library! Each volume is available for purchase as either a single volume or a complete set.

Chesterton and Belloc - a Fastidious Friendship....

The Department of Catholic Studies, the G. K. Chesterton Institute for Faith and Culture and the Celtic Theatre Company proudly present G.K. Chesterton and Hilaire Belloc—A Fastidious Friendship.

The Path to Rome republished...

 

This edition is entirely re-typeset, includes Belloc's 77 original illustrations, and a new foreword by Belloc biographer Joseph Pearce. 

I vowed a vow there to go to Rome on Pilgrimage
and see all Europe which the Christian Faith has saved;
and I said, “I will walk all the way and take advantage
of no wheeled thing...and be present at High Mass in
St. Peter’s on the Feast of St. Peter and St. Paul.

This story of adventurous pilgrimage rambles through the fields of France, the mountains of Switzerland, and the plains of Italy. Belloc’s own favorite among his books, The Path to Rome recounts a pilgrimage on foot from the author’s birthplace in France to the Eternal City. Along the way he must find shelter, food, and directions. Stopping every few pages for a swig of local wine, his thoughts wander as much as his feet, covering topics as wide ranging as:

Devices for Ending Books
On Justice in Armies
Thoughts on French Folk-Lore
The Value of Bakers
The Tradition of Mankind and Ordinary Living

He also ponders the nature of the soul, declares his theory of blessings, and, when caught in loneliness or despair, cheers himself with stories such as that of the Great Barrel, the story of the Old Sailor, the story of the Devil and the Learned Man, and the story of Mr. Hard (to name a few).

In a travelogue devoid of chapters, Belloc carries his reader along at a breakneck pace, stopping only to rest and argue with his imaginary reader, the “Lector.” In these altercations with the Lector, Belloc finds he must defend himself, criticize himself, and make fun of himself for the sake of his sanity and the health of the world. Long a classic and Belloc’s best-known work, this is a newly typeset edition, complete with all of Belloc’s original illustrations.

The Cruise of the Nona - new edition...

 

The latest edition can be purchased here:

In The Cruise of the ‘Nona,’ Hilaire Belloc sets off “to sail the English seas again, and to pursue from thought to thought and from memory to memory such things as have occupied one human soul.” On one level a breezy record of an adventurous journey; underneath the surface, a wise and insightful study of modern life, particularly in its transition from the Victorian to the early modern period. Belloc’s prose glitters and crashes like ocean breakers.

Belloc sees sailing as an analogy to life: full of “great visions” and “intolerable tediums,” “alive with discovery, emotion, adventure, peril, and repose.” For Belloc, the sea “presents, upon the greatest scale we mortals can bear, those not mortal powers which brought us into being. It is not only the symbol or the mirror, but especially is it the messenger of the Divine.”

Belloc leads his reader over the changing seas, treating of many questions, including:

• How did the Vikings land in what are today impassable harbors?
• When and why did the British Parliament become so corrupt?
• What is the difference between prose and rhetoric?
• Can you trust learned scholars?
• Are sea monsters real?
• Will Alice in Wonderland remain a popular book?
• Why are oceans so different from one another?
• Is human “equality” a Catholic doctrine?

Mulling over half a century of memories and experiences, the seaman-philosopher shares a hundred and one reflections, flights of fancy, and tongue-in-cheek observations on England and Europe, Catholicism, atheism, sailing techniques, and common-sense. From his memories of the outbreak of the first World War to denunciations of rationalism, this cruise can transport the reader from his armchair to the lashing spray and biting wit of this monumental figure of English literature.

“Everything Belloc touched turns to magic for me. This book, however, is the closest the great man ever came to autobiography.” —Roger Buck

“Belloc thought that the cruising of a boat is akin to the adventure of a human soul… undertaken with purpose yet subject to innumerable diversions; aided by unforeseen blessings and opportunities yet troubled by terrible anxieties. Abroad on the sea provides the full model and symbol of human life, and thus the suitable setting for the chance thoughts of one human being.” —Karl Schmude

“The yacht seems to stop at intervals to make meditations on all sorts of subjects—capitalism, the Great War, Catholicism, and the rest—the various points of the author’s many-sided philosophy. Then it gives, as it were a twist of the tiller and returns to its jibs and booms.” —A. E. Clery