Socratic Club
Encyclopedia
The Oxford Socratic Club was formed in December 1941, at Oxford University, by Stella Aldwinckle of the Oxford Pastorate
and a group of undergraduate students, in order to provide "an open forum for the discussion of the intellectual difficulties connected with religion and with Christianity
in particular." A student by the name of Monica Shorten had expressed a need for such a club. The society was to follow the practice of Socrates to "follow the argument wherever it led them." As all inter-college clubs at Oxford had to have a "senior member of the university" as a sponsor, Aldwinckle implored C. S. Lewis
to be its first president. Lewis enthusiastically served as president from 1942 until he left for Cambridge in 1954. Basil Mitchell succeeded Lewis as president in February 1955. The first meeting was held on January 26, 1942, and the club disbanded in 1972.
The Oxford Socratic Club met on Monday evenings during term from 8.15pm to 10.30pm, with many undergraduates lingering long afterward. Many of the most notable figures of Oxford University presented or responded to papers, including G.E.M. Anscombe, Antony Flew
, Iris Murdoch
, Austin Farrer
, A.J. Ayer, D.M. MacKinnon, C.E.M. Joad, E.L. Mascall, Gabriel Marcel
, Frederick Copleston
, I.M. Crombie, Basil Mitchell, R.M. Hare, Michael Polanyi
, Gilbert Ryle
, J.L. Austin, Dorothy Sayers, and many others.
Commenting on the Socratic Club at Oxford, C.S. Lewis stated, “In any fairly large and talkative community such as a university, there is always the danger that those who think alike should gravitate together into ‘coteries’ where they will henceforth encounter opposition only in the emasculated form of rumor that the outsiders say thus and thus. The absent are easily refuted, complacent dogmatism thrives, and differences of opinion are embittered by group hostility. Each group hears not the best, but the worst, that the other groups can say.”
This debate involved a presentation by Joad that was based on his recent book, published in November 1942, God and Evil, which contained his arguments for theism, but also against Christianity. Joad was at this time taking a closer look at Christianity because of the evil he saw in Nazi Germany. He cited Lewis many times in his book, which was undoubtedly one of the reasons he was invited to address the Socratic Club. Joad later became a Christian.
February 2, 1948, Elizabeth Anscombe and C. S. Lewis, "The Self-Refuting Nature of Naturalism"
Catholic philosopher G.E.M. (Gertrude Elizabeth Margaret) Anscombe debated Lewis about a portion of Lewis's 1947 book, Miracles known today as the Argument from Reason
, in which he stated that that since naturalists claimed all of nature to be irrational, that would make the claim of the naturalists also irrational and therefore contrary to reason (for example, that if there is no God, if nature is the product of chance, then how can a human brain offer anything but chance observations that have no authority?). She claimed that he had mistakenly equated non-rational causes with irrational causes and confused the concepts of cause, reason, and explanation. John Lucas later helped in a rerun of this debate, which ended up vindicating Lewis. Victor Reppert
's book, C.S. Lewis's Dangerous Idea, further supports Lewis's original argument.
1942
Can Science Render Religion Unnecessary? H. A. Hodges
1943
Science and Faith, Frank Sherwood Taylor; Is the New Testament Reliable Evidence? Richard Kehoe
1944
On Being Reviewed by Christians, C. E. M. Joad
; Materialism and Agnosticism, J. K. White, Gordon Preston
; The Grounds of Modern Agnosticism, H. H. Price
; Has Psychology Debunked Sin? L. W. Grensted, Barbara Falk
1945
Marxist and Christian Views of the Nature of Man, Archibald Robertson
, Emile Cammaerts
1946
Can Science Provide a Basis for Ethics? C. H. Waddington, Austin Farrer
; The Limits of Positivism, Friedrich Waismann
1947
Did the Resurrection Happen? R. E. Davies, T. M. Parker
1948
The Self-Refuting Nature of Naturalism, Elizabeth Anscombe, C. S. Lewis
; Rudolf Steiner
and the Scientific Outlook, Alfred Heidenreich, Frank Sherwood Taylor; Atheism, J. B. S. Haldane
, Ian M. Crombie
Trinity Term, 1949
April 25 Can Science Create Values? J. Bronowski, Basil Mitchell
May 2 Some Remarks on Analysis, Personality, and Religion, G. J. C. Midgley
May 9 Christianity, the Church, and the Churches, Oliver Tomkins, T. M. Parker
May 16 Psychoanalysis and Religion, Anita Kohsen, R. S. Lee
May 30 Value Judgments, R. M. Hare
June 6 The Morality of Dangerous Devices, I. M. Crombie, N. J. P. Brown
Michaelmas Term, 1949
Oct. 10 Are Tautologies Really Necessary? P. J. Fitzgerald, C. S. Lewis
Oct. 17 Agreement and Disagreement in Ethics, A. C. Ewing, R. M. Hare
Oct. 24 Philosophy and Psychoanalysis, John Wisdom, Leycester King
Oct. 31 Some Displaced Questions, E. L. Mascall, A. G. N. Flew
Nov. 7 Hindu Speculation and Jung, Basil de Mel, Vernon Katz
Nov. 21 Can Science Be Creative? C. H. Waddington, Frank Sherwood-Taylor
Nov. 28 Physics and Philosophy, Lord Cherwell, J. C. Stuart
Hilary Term, 1950
Jan. 23 The Nature of Faith, J. P. Hickinbotham, E. L. Mascall
Feb. 6 Certainty, L. A. Grint, C. D. Rollins
Feb. 13 Grounds for Disbelief in God, Archibald Robertson, C. S. Lewis
Feb. 20 Freudian Psychology and Christian Faith, B. A. Farrell, R. S. Lee
Feb. 27 The Relation of Psychical Research to the Scientific Method, N. M. Tyrell, L. W. Grensted
Mar. 6 Marxism, Douglas Hyde, V. A. Demant
Trinity Term, 1950
May 1 Can We Trust the Gospels? D. E. Nineham
, G. E. F. Chilver
May 8 Biology and Theism, A. Rendle Short, A. C. Hardy
May 15 Theology and Verification, A. G. N. Flew, Bernard Williams
May 22 The Spirit of Religious Intolerance, Gervase Mathew, H. C. Carpenter
May 29 Criteria in Ethical Judgment, G. E. Hughes, S. E. Tomlin
June 5 Personalism, J. B. Coates
Michaelmas Term, 1950
Oct. 16 God and History, Michael Foster, C. S. Lewis
Oct. 30 Explanation: Scientific and Philosophical, David Mitchell, S. F. Mason
Nov. 7 Is Theology a Science? G. C. Stead, Austin Farrer
Nov. 13 Reason and Rationalism in Religion, R. S. Lee, A. P. d’Entreves
Hilary Term, 1951
Jan. 22 The Problem of Freedom, J. Ward-Smith
Jan 29 On Clearing Up Philosophical Muddles, Bernard Williams
Feb. 12 Psychopathology and Sin, Seymore Spencer, Victor White
Apr. 30 The Philosophical Basis of Marxism, Marcus Wheeler, S. F. Mason
Michaelmas Term, 1951
Oct. 22 Appreciation of Linguistic Analysis, I. T. Ramsey
Nov. 5 Do the Mystics Know? Thomas Corbishley
Hilary Term, 1952
Jan. 28 Imago Dei and the Unconscious, Oswald Summer, R. W. Kosterlitz
Feb. 4 The Buddhist Approach to Philosophy, Auguste Purfurst, Basil Mitchell
Feb. 25 The Gospels—History or Myth? Christopher Evans, P. H. Nowell-Smith
Mar. 3 Rational Existentialism, E. L. Mascall, Iris Murdoch
Mar. 10 Cosmology and Theism, G. J. Whitrow, E. L. Mascall
Trinity Term, 1952
Apr. 28 The Notion of Development in Psychology and Its Bearing Upon Religion, R. S. Lee
May 5 Creation Never Was, Michael Scriven
May 12 Christianity and Humanism in Western Culture, Christopher Dawson, I.T. Ramsey
May 19 What Is Theology? H. D. Lewis, J. J. Hartland-Swann
May 26 Subjective and Objective Language, J. Z. Young, Gilbert Ryle
June 2 The Stability of Beliefs, Michael Polanyi, C. T. W. Curle
June 9 Guilt and Freedom, John Wisdom, J. L. Austin
Michaelmas Term, 1952
Oct. 17 Contemporary Philosophy and Christian Faith, Basil Mitchell
Oct. 24 The Logic of Personality, Bernard Mayo, R. M. Hare
Nov. 3 A Living Universe, D. E. Harding, C. S. Lewis
Nov. 10 A New Humanist Alternative to Christ and Mary, H. J. Blackham, Iris Murdoch
Nov. 17 The Ethic of Belief, Brand Blanhard, H. H. Price
Nov. 24 Topic Unknown, J. N. Findlay
Dec. 1 Soloviev and His Idea of Good and Evil, Nicholas Zernov, E. W. Lambert
1953
The Gospels: Myth or History? R. Creham, A. R. C. Leaney
1954
The Anatomy of Atheism, E. W. Lambert, John Lucas
, Oregon State University
, the University of Gonzaga
, and Samford University
. The Samford Socratic Club was founded in 2007 by two undergraduate students seeking to promote rational discussion on campus by using the Socratic method of "following the argument wherever it leads." In addition as of 2007 there has been an Oxford University Socrates Society with similar aims to those of the Socratic Club.
Oxford Pastorate
The Oxford Pastorate has provided chaplains to work alongside students in the University of Oxford, England, since it was founded in 1893 by evangelical Anglicans...
and a group of undergraduate students, in order to provide "an open forum for the discussion of the intellectual difficulties connected with religion and with Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
in particular." A student by the name of Monica Shorten had expressed a need for such a club. The society was to follow the practice of Socrates to "follow the argument wherever it led them." As all inter-college clubs at Oxford had to have a "senior member of the university" as a sponsor, Aldwinckle implored C. S. Lewis
C. S. Lewis
Clive Staples Lewis , commonly referred to as C. S. Lewis and known to his friends and family as "Jack", was a novelist, academic, medievalist, literary critic, essayist, lay theologian and Christian apologist from Belfast, Ireland...
to be its first president. Lewis enthusiastically served as president from 1942 until he left for Cambridge in 1954. Basil Mitchell succeeded Lewis as president in February 1955. The first meeting was held on January 26, 1942, and the club disbanded in 1972.
The Oxford Socratic Club met on Monday evenings during term from 8.15pm to 10.30pm, with many undergraduates lingering long afterward. Many of the most notable figures of Oxford University presented or responded to papers, including G.E.M. Anscombe, Antony Flew
Antony Flew
Antony Garrard Newton Flew was a British philosopher. Belonging to the analytic and evidentialist schools of thought, he was notable for his works on the philosophy of religion....
, Iris Murdoch
Iris Murdoch
Dame Iris Murdoch DBE was an Irish-born British author and philosopher, best known for her novels about political and social questions of good and evil, sexual relationships, morality, and the power of the unconscious...
, Austin Farrer
Austin Farrer
Austin Marsden Farrer was an English theologian and philosopher. His activity in philosophy, theology, and spirituality lead many to consider him the outstanding figure of 20th century Anglicanism.-Life:...
, A.J. Ayer, D.M. MacKinnon, C.E.M. Joad, E.L. Mascall, Gabriel Marcel
Gabriel Marcel
Gabriel Honoré Marcel was a French philosopher, a leading Christian existentialist, and author of about 30 plays.He focused on the modern individual's struggle in a technologically dehumanizing society...
, Frederick Copleston
Frederick Copleston
Frederick Charles Copleston, SJ, CBE was a Jesuit priest and historian of philosophy.-Biography:...
, I.M. Crombie, Basil Mitchell, R.M. Hare, Michael Polanyi
Michael Polanyi
Michael Polanyi, FRS was a Hungarian–British polymath, who made important theoretical contributions to physical chemistry, economics, and the theory of knowledge...
, Gilbert Ryle
Gilbert Ryle
Gilbert Ryle , was a British philosopher, a representative of the generation of British ordinary language philosophers that shared Wittgenstein's approach to philosophical problems, and is principally known for his critique of Cartesian dualism, for which he coined the phrase "the ghost in the...
, J.L. Austin, Dorothy Sayers, and many others.
Commenting on the Socratic Club at Oxford, C.S. Lewis stated, “In any fairly large and talkative community such as a university, there is always the danger that those who think alike should gravitate together into ‘coteries’ where they will henceforth encounter opposition only in the emasculated form of rumor that the outsiders say thus and thus. The absent are easily refuted, complacent dogmatism thrives, and differences of opinion are embittered by group hostility. Each group hears not the best, but the worst, that the other groups can say.”
Famous debates
January 24, 1944, C.E.M. Joad and C.S. Lewis, "On Being Reviewed by Christians"This debate involved a presentation by Joad that was based on his recent book, published in November 1942, God and Evil, which contained his arguments for theism, but also against Christianity. Joad was at this time taking a closer look at Christianity because of the evil he saw in Nazi Germany. He cited Lewis many times in his book, which was undoubtedly one of the reasons he was invited to address the Socratic Club. Joad later became a Christian.
February 2, 1948, Elizabeth Anscombe and C. S. Lewis, "The Self-Refuting Nature of Naturalism"
Catholic philosopher G.E.M. (Gertrude Elizabeth Margaret) Anscombe debated Lewis about a portion of Lewis's 1947 book, Miracles known today as the Argument from Reason
Argument from Reason
The Argument from Reason is an argument for the existence of God largely developed by C.S. Lewis.-The argument:C.S...
, in which he stated that that since naturalists claimed all of nature to be irrational, that would make the claim of the naturalists also irrational and therefore contrary to reason (for example, that if there is no God, if nature is the product of chance, then how can a human brain offer anything but chance observations that have no authority?). She claimed that he had mistakenly equated non-rational causes with irrational causes and confused the concepts of cause, reason, and explanation. John Lucas later helped in a rerun of this debate, which ended up vindicating Lewis. Victor Reppert
Victor Reppert
Dr. Victor Reppert is an American philosopher best known for his development of the Argument from Reason. He is the author of C.S. Lewis's Dangerous Idea and numerous academic papers in journals such as Christian Scholars' Review, International Journal for the Philosophy of Religion, Philo and...
's book, C.S. Lewis's Dangerous Idea, further supports Lewis's original argument.
Meetings of the Socratic Club
1942
Can Science Render Religion Unnecessary? H. A. Hodges
1943
Science and Faith, Frank Sherwood Taylor; Is the New Testament Reliable Evidence? Richard Kehoe
1944
On Being Reviewed by Christians, C. E. M. Joad
C. E. M. Joad
Cyril Edwin Mitchinson Joad was an English philosopher and broadcasting personality. He is most famous for his appearance on The Brains Trust, an extremely popular BBC Radio wartime discussion programme...
; Materialism and Agnosticism, J. K. White, Gordon Preston
Gordon Preston
Gordon Bamford Preston is an English mathematician who is known for his work on semigroups. He received his D.Phil. in mathematics in 1954 from the University of Oxford.He was born in Workington and brought up in Carlisle...
; The Grounds of Modern Agnosticism, H. H. Price
H. H. Price
Henry Habberley Price was a Welsh philosopher, known for his work on perception. He also wrote on parapsychology....
; Has Psychology Debunked Sin? L. W. Grensted, Barbara Falk
1945
Marxist and Christian Views of the Nature of Man, Archibald Robertson
Archibald Robertson
Archibald Robertson may refer to:*Archibald Robertson , Scottish physician; grandfather of the bishop*Archibald Robertson , Principal of King's College London and Bishop of Exeter...
, Emile Cammaerts
Émile Cammaerts
Émile Leon Cammaerts was a Belgian poet.He became Professor of Belgian Studies at the University of London in 1933, and his papers are held there in Senate House Library....
1946
Can Science Provide a Basis for Ethics? C. H. Waddington, Austin Farrer
Austin Farrer
Austin Marsden Farrer was an English theologian and philosopher. His activity in philosophy, theology, and spirituality lead many to consider him the outstanding figure of 20th century Anglicanism.-Life:...
; The Limits of Positivism, Friedrich Waismann
Friedrich Waismann
Friedrich Waismann was an Austrian mathematician, physicist, and philosopher. He is best known for being a member of the Vienna Circle and one of the key theorists in logical positivism.-Birth & Early Interest in Philosophy:...
1947
Did the Resurrection Happen? R. E. Davies, T. M. Parker
1948
The Self-Refuting Nature of Naturalism, Elizabeth Anscombe, C. S. Lewis
C. S. Lewis
Clive Staples Lewis , commonly referred to as C. S. Lewis and known to his friends and family as "Jack", was a novelist, academic, medievalist, literary critic, essayist, lay theologian and Christian apologist from Belfast, Ireland...
; Rudolf Steiner
Rudolf Steiner
Rudolf Joseph Lorenz Steiner was an Austrian philosopher, social reformer, architect, and esotericist. He gained initial recognition as a literary critic and cultural philosopher...
and the Scientific Outlook, Alfred Heidenreich, Frank Sherwood Taylor; Atheism, J. B. S. Haldane
J. B. S. Haldane
John Burdon Sanderson Haldane FRS , known as Jack , was a British-born geneticist and evolutionary biologist. A staunch Marxist, he was critical of Britain's role in the Suez Crisis, and chose to leave Oxford and moved to India and became an Indian citizen...
, Ian M. Crombie
Trinity Term, 1949
April 25 Can Science Create Values? J. Bronowski, Basil Mitchell
May 2 Some Remarks on Analysis, Personality, and Religion, G. J. C. Midgley
May 9 Christianity, the Church, and the Churches, Oliver Tomkins, T. M. Parker
May 16 Psychoanalysis and Religion, Anita Kohsen, R. S. Lee
May 30 Value Judgments, R. M. Hare
June 6 The Morality of Dangerous Devices, I. M. Crombie, N. J. P. Brown
Michaelmas Term, 1949
Oct. 10 Are Tautologies Really Necessary? P. J. Fitzgerald, C. S. Lewis
Oct. 17 Agreement and Disagreement in Ethics, A. C. Ewing, R. M. Hare
Oct. 24 Philosophy and Psychoanalysis, John Wisdom, Leycester King
Oct. 31 Some Displaced Questions, E. L. Mascall, A. G. N. Flew
Nov. 7 Hindu Speculation and Jung, Basil de Mel, Vernon Katz
Nov. 21 Can Science Be Creative? C. H. Waddington, Frank Sherwood-Taylor
Nov. 28 Physics and Philosophy, Lord Cherwell, J. C. Stuart
Hilary Term, 1950
Jan. 23 The Nature of Faith, J. P. Hickinbotham, E. L. Mascall
Feb. 6 Certainty, L. A. Grint, C. D. Rollins
Feb. 13 Grounds for Disbelief in God, Archibald Robertson, C. S. Lewis
Feb. 20 Freudian Psychology and Christian Faith, B. A. Farrell, R. S. Lee
Feb. 27 The Relation of Psychical Research to the Scientific Method, N. M. Tyrell, L. W. Grensted
Mar. 6 Marxism, Douglas Hyde, V. A. Demant
Trinity Term, 1950
May 1 Can We Trust the Gospels? D. E. Nineham
Dennis Nineham
Dennis Eric Nineham is a British theologian and academic, who served as Warden of Keble College, Oxford from 1969 to 1979, as well as holding chairs in theology at the universities of London, Cambridge and Bristol.-Life:...
, G. E. F. Chilver
May 8 Biology and Theism, A. Rendle Short, A. C. Hardy
May 15 Theology and Verification, A. G. N. Flew, Bernard Williams
May 22 The Spirit of Religious Intolerance, Gervase Mathew, H. C. Carpenter
May 29 Criteria in Ethical Judgment, G. E. Hughes, S. E. Tomlin
June 5 Personalism, J. B. Coates
Michaelmas Term, 1950
Oct. 16 God and History, Michael Foster, C. S. Lewis
Oct. 30 Explanation: Scientific and Philosophical, David Mitchell, S. F. Mason
Nov. 7 Is Theology a Science? G. C. Stead, Austin Farrer
Nov. 13 Reason and Rationalism in Religion, R. S. Lee, A. P. d’Entreves
Hilary Term, 1951
Jan. 22 The Problem of Freedom, J. Ward-Smith
Jan 29 On Clearing Up Philosophical Muddles, Bernard Williams
Feb. 12 Psychopathology and Sin, Seymore Spencer, Victor White
Apr. 30 The Philosophical Basis of Marxism, Marcus Wheeler, S. F. Mason
Michaelmas Term, 1951
Oct. 22 Appreciation of Linguistic Analysis, I. T. Ramsey
Nov. 5 Do the Mystics Know? Thomas Corbishley
Hilary Term, 1952
Jan. 28 Imago Dei and the Unconscious, Oswald Summer, R. W. Kosterlitz
Feb. 4 The Buddhist Approach to Philosophy, Auguste Purfurst, Basil Mitchell
Feb. 25 The Gospels—History or Myth? Christopher Evans, P. H. Nowell-Smith
Mar. 3 Rational Existentialism, E. L. Mascall, Iris Murdoch
Mar. 10 Cosmology and Theism, G. J. Whitrow, E. L. Mascall
Trinity Term, 1952
Apr. 28 The Notion of Development in Psychology and Its Bearing Upon Religion, R. S. Lee
May 5 Creation Never Was, Michael Scriven
May 12 Christianity and Humanism in Western Culture, Christopher Dawson, I.T. Ramsey
May 19 What Is Theology? H. D. Lewis, J. J. Hartland-Swann
May 26 Subjective and Objective Language, J. Z. Young, Gilbert Ryle
June 2 The Stability of Beliefs, Michael Polanyi, C. T. W. Curle
June 9 Guilt and Freedom, John Wisdom, J. L. Austin
Michaelmas Term, 1952
Oct. 17 Contemporary Philosophy and Christian Faith, Basil Mitchell
Oct. 24 The Logic of Personality, Bernard Mayo, R. M. Hare
Nov. 3 A Living Universe, D. E. Harding, C. S. Lewis
Nov. 10 A New Humanist Alternative to Christ and Mary, H. J. Blackham, Iris Murdoch
Nov. 17 The Ethic of Belief, Brand Blanhard, H. H. Price
Nov. 24 Topic Unknown, J. N. Findlay
Dec. 1 Soloviev and His Idea of Good and Evil, Nicholas Zernov, E. W. Lambert
1953
The Gospels: Myth or History? R. Creham, A. R. C. Leaney
1954
The Anatomy of Atheism, E. W. Lambert, John Lucas
Other Socratic Clubs
Though the Oxford Socratic Club disbanded, several Socratic Clubs now exist in colleges and universities throughout the United States. Among these are Socratic Clubs at Vanderbilt UniversityVanderbilt University
Vanderbilt University is a private research university located in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, the university is named for shipping and rail magnate "Commodore" Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided Vanderbilt its initial $1 million endowment despite having never been to the...
, Oregon State University
Oregon State University
Oregon State University is a coeducational, public research university located in Corvallis, Oregon, United States. The university offers undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degrees and a multitude of research opportunities. There are more than 200 academic degree programs offered through the...
, the University of Gonzaga
Gonzaga University
Gonzaga University is a private Roman Catholic university located in Spokane, Washington, United States. Founded in 1887 by the Society of Jesus, it is one of 28 member institutions of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities and is named after the young Jesuit saint, Aloysius Gonzaga...
, and Samford University
Samford University
Samford University, founded as Howard College is a private, coeducational, Alabama Baptist Convention-affiliated university located in Homewood, a suburb of Birmingham, Alabama, United States. It includes the , Cumberland School of Law, McWhorter School of Pharmacy, Brock School of Business, Ida V....
. The Samford Socratic Club was founded in 2007 by two undergraduate students seeking to promote rational discussion on campus by using the Socratic method of "following the argument wherever it leads." In addition as of 2007 there has been an Oxford University Socrates Society with similar aims to those of the Socratic Club.
See also
- SocratesSocratesSocrates was a classical Greek Athenian philosopher. Credited as one of the founders of Western philosophy, he is an enigmatic figure known chiefly through the accounts of later classical writers, especially the writings of his students Plato and Xenophon, and the plays of his contemporary ...
— the Ancient Greek philosopher after whom the club was named. - Socrates CafeSocrates cafeSocrates Café are gatherings around the world where people from different backgrounds get together and exchange thoughtful ideas and experiences while embracing the Socratic Method. The groups model their discussions from the book of the same name by Christopher Phillips...
- an international network of gatherings of diverse people in order to engage in discussions via the Socratic method - The Fourth KThe Fourth KThe Fourth K is a novel by Mario Puzo, published in 1990. It is set during the Presidency of fictional "Francis Xavier Kennedy," nephew of John F...
- a novel by Mario PuzoMario PuzoMario Gianluigi Puzo was an American author and screenwriter, known for his novels about the Mafia, including The Godfather , which he later co-adapted into a film by Francis Ford Coppola...