When 'academic' is another word for 'detective'
I have greatly enjoyed the following works of sifting historical evidence carefully and constructing an argument based on doing so. From most speculative to least speculative, all excellent:
Michael Ward: How did Lewis come up with the name ‘Narnia’?
Jon Ferguson: “Johnny Crookedhouse” (1957)
Holly Ordway: What did J.R.R. Tolkien REALLY think of C.S. Lewis’s Narnia?