A Companion to Mr. Wells's "outline of History"

Hilaire Belloc's companion to H. G. Wells's Outline of History is a forceful Catholic rebuttal to what he sees as a dangerously misleading popular history. Written especially for Catholic readers unsettled by Wells's influence, the book argues that false history can quietly lead to false philosophy, and that the past must be defended as carefully as the faith itself. Belloc grants Wells real gifts as a writer and historian—clarity, vividness, sincerity, and a talent for broad synthesis—but insists that these strengths make the errors more persuasive, not less. At the heart of the critique is Wells's "provincialism": not mere limited experience, but the arrogant belief that modern assumptions can judge every age. Belloc charges that this habit, joined to a growing hostility toward tradition, nobility, soldiers, classical learning, and especially the Catholic Church, distorts Wells's treatment of religion, science, and civilization. He challenges Wells's outdated theories on prehistory, anthropology, Darwinism, priesthood, and the Galileo case, arguing that history cannot be built on sweeping generalizations, selective evidence, or anti-religious prejudice. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.