Shows / The Hilaire Belloc Library
The Hilaire Belloc Library
Come away from the noise of the present, and walk the old roads once more. The Hilaire Belloc Library presents the complete works of Hilaire Belloc, read aloud in full and unabridged. From stirring histories and spirited essays to travel, poetry, and unforgettable stories, these are books written for those who delight in adventure, faith, laughter, and the enduring inheritance of Europe. Take up the journey, and let Belloc himself be your fellow traveller.
Episodes
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
The Green Overcoat Chapter 4 - In Which It Is Seen That University Training Fits One for a Business Career
In which a learned gentleman, bound and confined by bonds both physical and financial, employs wit and desperate ingenuity to strive for freedom within a grim…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
The Green Overcoat Chapter 5 - In Which Solitude Is Unable to Discover the Charms Which Sages Have Seen in Her Face
In which a beleaguered philosopher finds himself confined in a high-roofed chamber, endeavours to escape by the means at hand, and after many trials is…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
The Green Overcoat Chapter 2 - In Which a Philosopher Wrestles With a Problem of Identity
In which a learned gentleman finds himself in a perplexing and increasingly dire predicament involving mistaken identity, enforced promises, and the vexing…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
The Green Overcoat Chapter 3 - In Which the Green Overcoat Appears as a Point of Religion by Not Being There
In which we find Mr. John Brassington, a man of strong principle and private eccentricities, grappling with the troubling disappearance of his treasured Green…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
The Green Overcoat Chapter 1 - In Which the Green Overcoat Takes a Journey
In which a timid and weary professor, burdened by his scholarly preoccupations, finds himself ensnared by a most unexpected and luxurious garment on a stormy…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
The Green Overcoat Dedication
In which a playful and ponderous dedication unfolds, comparing the peculiar virtues and curiosities of an overcoat to those of an elephant, blending whimsy…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
The Servile State Section 17
In which the gradual imposition of compulsory labour and servitude emerges as an inevitable consequence of social reforms aimed at securing minimum wages and…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
The Servile State Section 18
In which the steadfast spirit of free societies like Ireland and France sets a hopeful example against the encroaching tendencies of the Servile State…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
The Servile State Section 15
In which we observe the gradual emergence of servile legislation distinguished not by mere protective statutes but by the establishment of legal inequalities…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
The Servile State Section 16
In which the nascent legal establishment of a minimum wage within a particular trade serves as a telling example of the broader shift from free contract to a…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
The Servile State Section 13
In which the shifting attitudes of English wage-earners towards property and freedom are observed, revealing their growing acceptance of security and…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
The Servile State Section 14
In which the intricate dance between capital accumulation, State intervention, and the inexorable law of diminishing returns is laid bare, demonstrating that…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
The Servile State Section 11
In which the gradual transformation of modern Capitalist England under social reformers, both impassioned and pragmatic, is observed not to lead…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
The Servile State Section 12
In which we find that both the thoughtful Socialist and the earnest Practical Man, though differing in aims and awareness, are driving society towards a new…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
The Servile State Section 10
In which the remedies proposed for the ills of Capitalism are carefully weighed between restoring widespread private ownership and entrusting the means of…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
The Servile State Section 9
In which the inherent instability of Capitalism is gently examined, revealing how the system’s struggles with freedom and ownership naturally steer society…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
The Servile State Section 7
In which we observe the gradual decline of the English Crown’s power and the rise of a dominant capitalist oligarchy, as vast estates and wealth concentrate…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
The Servile State Section 8
In which the gradual triumph of economic oligarchy and the erosion of common rights have fashioned a society wherein property and freedom are unequally…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
The Servile State Section 6
In which the gradual and peaceful distribution of land in early sixteenth-century England was abruptly disrupted by the Crown’s seizure of monastic estates, a…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
The Servile State Section 5
In which the transformation from the ancient servile system to a society of free peasants and cooperative guilds is gently traced, revealing a medieval state…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
The Servile State Section 3
In which the nature of the Servile State is carefully examined through distinctions of enforced labour contracts and their impact on individual freedom…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
The Servile State Section 4
In which the ancient world’s acceptance of slavery as a natural and necessary condition is laid bare, revealing a society divided between free citizens and…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
The Servile State Section 1
In which a thoughtful examination is begun into the nature of modern industrial society, exploring how the stability of property and labour relations may slip…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
The Servile State Section 2
In which the nature and necessity of wealth are thoughtfully examined, revealing its creation through the combination of land, labour, and capital, and the…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
The French Revolution Chapter VI - the Revolution and the Catholic Church Part 4
In which the complex and fateful conflict between the Catholic Church and the revolutionary government takes shape around the Civil Constitution of the Clergy…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
The French Revolution Chapter VI - the Revolution and the Catholic Church Part 5
In which the year 1791 introduces the growing alienation and conflict between the revolutionary government and the non-juring clergy, marked by legislative…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
The French Revolution Chapter VI - the Revolution and the Catholic Church Part 2
In which the sombre condition of religious belief in pre-Revolutionary France is quietly unveiled, revealing a faith long faded from the hearts of the masses…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
The French Revolution Chapter VI - the Revolution and the Catholic Church Part 3
In which the complex and momentous attempt by the French Revolutionaries to reform the Catholic Church’s structure and ties to the State is meticulously…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
The French Revolution Chapter VI - The Revolution and the Catholic Church
In which the profound and enduring conflict between the French Revolution and the Catholic Church is examined not through petty details but from the broadest…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
The French Revolution Chapter VI - the Revolution and the Catholic Church Part 1
In which the complex relationship between the French Revolution and the Catholic Church is explored, emphasising the enduring spiritual and political conflicts…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
The French Revolution Chapter V - the Military Aspect of the Revolution Part 10
In which the French and Allied armies engage in a series of intricate manoeuvres and battles along the Belgian frontier, revealing the crucial importance of…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
The French Revolution Chapter V - the Military Aspect of the Revolution Part 9
In which the French Revolutionary armies, despite their raw and undisciplined nature, gradually resist and repel the well-trained Austrians and their allies…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
The French Revolution Chapter V - the Military Aspect of the Revolution Part 7
In which the grim shadow of the guillotine reigns over the French armies during a critical year of the Revolution’s military trials, revealing a desperate but…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
The French Revolution Chapter V - the Military Aspect of the Revolution Part 8
In which the fortunes of war on the northern frontier of France unfold with sieges and strategic movements amid internal rebellions and rising threats to the…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
The French Revolution Chapter V - the Military Aspect of the Revolution Part 5
In which the French and Allied armies engage in a peculiar and indecisive cannonade near the windmill of Valmy, marked by halted Prussian advances and the…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
The French Revolution Chapter V - the Military Aspect of the Revolution Part 6
In which the ambitious campaign of Dumouriez to invade the Austrian Netherlands unfolds with initial triumph, only to be undermined by the fractured nature of…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
The French Revolution Chapter V - the Military Aspect of the Revolution Part 3
In which the unfolding Revolution in France is shown to be as much a civil war as a political upheaval, with a populace quick to organise and accustomed to the…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
The French Revolution Chapter V - the Military Aspect of the Revolution Part 4
In which the reader is taken to the somber plains and dense woods of the Argonne, where a weary French force under Dumouriez and Kellermann endeavours to hold…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
The French Revolution Chapter V - the Military Aspect of the Revolution Part 1
In which the narrative turns to the military affairs of the Revolution, pondering the curious interplay of reason, chance, and fervour that led to its success…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
The French Revolution Chapter V - the Military Aspect of the Revolution Part 2
In which the nature of European warfare before the French Revolution is carefully examined, revealing a world of dynastic disputes conducted within strict…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
The French Revolution Chapter IV - the Phases of the Revolution - VI Part 3
In which the final throes of revolutionary fervour see the Committee of Public Safety wielding power with ruthless determination, orchestrating the downfall of…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
The French Revolution Chapter V - The Military Aspect of the Revolution
In which the intricate military successes of the French Revolution are examined, revealing how its armies alone ensured the spread and firm establishment of…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
The French Revolution Chapter IV - the Phases of the Revolution - VI Part 1
In which the fledgling Committee of Public Safety begins to consolidate its precarious hold over a nation beset by external enemies and internal insurrections…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
The French Revolution Chapter IV - the Phases of the Revolution - VI Part 2
In which the figure of Robespierre emerges as the singular, steadfast voice of revolutionary conviction amidst the turbulent theatre of war and insurrection…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
The French Revolution Chapter IV - the Phases of the Revolution - IV Part 2
In which the French army stands frail and divided against the looming advance of foreign monarchs, their scattered forces ill-prepared and beset by internal…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
The French Revolution Chapter IV - the Phases of the Revolution - V
In which the early months following the uprising against the monarchy see Paris gripped by fervent revolutionary zeal and internecine strife, notably marked by…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
The French Revolution Chapter IV - the Phases of the Revolution - III
In which the nation is reshaped by the efforts of the National Assembly, while the King and Queen wrestle with growing unease and cautious schemes of flight…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
The French Revolution Chapter IV - the Phases of the Revolution - IV Part 1
In which the solemn and ancient monarchy of France, shaken by a reckless attempt to flee and the consequent loss of trust, finds itself caught in the gathering…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
The French Revolution Chapter IV - the Phases of the Revolution - I
In which the National Assembly asserts its authority against royal commands, marking a profound shift in France’s constitutional order and revealing the deep…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
The French Revolution Chapter IV - the Phases of the Revolution - II
In which the early fervour of the Revolution blossoms into sweeping declarations and sudden noble concessions, whilst the uneasy Crown hesitates and summons…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
The French Revolution Chapter III - The Characters of the Revolution - Carnot - Marat - Robespierre
In which we observe the stern and resolute Carnot, a seasoned soldier and earnest reformer who harnessed the revolutionary spirit and the fresh vigour of…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
The French Revolution Chapter IV - The Phases of the Revolution - I
In which the unfolding dispute between the Crown and the Parliament is revealed as a struggle not merely of privilege versus equality, but of legality versus…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
The French Revolution Chapter III - The Characters of the Revolution - Mirabeau
In which the complex figure of Mirabeau is explored as an artist of oratory and intellect, whose passionate temperament and noble birth both constrained and…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
The French Revolution Chapter III - The Characters of the Revolution - La Fayette - Dumouriez - Danton
In which we observe three vivid portraits of men who shaped, and were shaped by, the tempestuous dawn of the French Revolution: La Fayette, the aloof and…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
The French Revolution Chapter III - The Characters of the Revolution - King Louis XVI
In which the character of King Louis XVI is carefully examined with an understanding that he was a man of slow thought, deep personal convictions, and sincere…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
The French Revolution Chapter III - The Characters of the Revolution - the Queen
In which the portrait of Marie Antoinette is drawn with a delicate attention to the vast gulf that lay between her own steadfast energy and the intricate…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
The French Revolution Chapter I - The Political Theory of the Revolution Part 2
In which the transcendent doctrine of the equality of man is carefully examined, revealing its profound influence on the fervent spirit of the French…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
The French Revolution Chapter II - Rousseau
In which we explore the profound impact of Rousseau’s style and ideas, particularly through his concise and lucid *Contrat Social*, upon the intellectual…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
The French Revolution Preface
In which the author sets forth his purpose and method in recounting the momentous events of the French Revolution, offering reflections on the nature of…
- The Hilaire Belloc Library
The French Revolution Chapter I - The Political Theory of the Revolution Part 1
In which we explore the enduring and universal political theory underpinning the Revolution, asserting that true sovereignty resides not in rulers but in the…