Considered by many to be Chesterton's greatest masterpiece of all his writings, this is his whole view of world history as informed by the Incarnation. Beginning with the origin of man and the various religious attitudes throughout history, Chesterton shows how the fulfillment of all of man's desires takes place in the person of Christ and in Christ's Church.

Chesterton propounds the thesis that those who say that Christ stands side by side with similar myths, and his religion side by side with similar religions, are only repeating a very stale formula contradicted by a very striking fact. And with all the brilliance and devastating irony, so characteristic of his best writing, Chesterton gleefully and tempestuously tears to shreds that very stale formula and triumphantly proclaims in vivid language the glory and unanswerable logic of that very striking fact. Here is the genius of Chesterton at its delightful best.

G.K. Chesterton was a master essayist. But reading his essays is not just an exercise in studying a literary form at its finest, it is an encounter with timeless truths that jump off the page as fresh and powerful as the day they were written.

The only problem with Chesterton's essays is that there are too many of them. Over five thousand! For most GKC readers it is not even possible to know where to start or how to begin to approach them.

So three of the world's leading authorities on Chesterton - Dale Ahlquist, Joseph Pearce, Aidan Mackey - have joined together to select the best Chesterton essays, a collection that will be appreciated by both the newcomer and the seasoned student of this great 20th century man of letters.

The variety of topics are astounding: barbarians, architects, mystics, ghosts, fireworks, rain, juries, gargoyles and much more. Plus a look at Shakespeare, Dickens, Jane Austen, George MacDonald, T.S. Eliot, and the Bible. All in that inimitable, formidable but always quotable style of GKC. Even more astounding than the variety is the continuity of Chesterton's thought that ties everything together. A veritable feast for the mind and heart.

While some of the essays in this volume may be familiar, many of them are collected here for the first time, making their first appearance in over a century.

Here, together in a single volume, are the two biographies that many critics consider to be Chesterton's best and the best short portraits ever written of these two great saints. St. Francis of Assisi was first published in 1923, shortly after Chesterton was received into the Catholic Church. It is a profoundly Catholic work, explaining and illuminating the life of St. Francis in a way no other biography has. The spiritual kinship the author felt with his subject enables the reader to delve into insights on the character of Francis that have eluded many.
St. Thomas Aquinas was written later in Chesterton's career. It also is enriched by the author's unique ability to see the world through the saint's eyes, a view that shows us Aquinas in a fresh way. Chesterton's pen brings the author of the Summa vividly to life.

With an Introduction by David Stuart Davies.

Father Brown, one of the most quirkily genial and lovable characters to emerge from English detective fiction, first made his appearance in The Innocence of Father Brown in 1911. That first collection of stories established G.K. Chesterton's kindly cleric in the front rank of eccentric sleuths.

This complete collection contains all the favourite Father Brown stories, showing a quiet wit and compassion that has endeared him to many, whilst solving his mysteries by a mixture of imagination and a sympathetic worldliness in a totally believable manner.

Father Brown explains: You see, I murdered them all myself... I planned out each of the crimes very carefully. I thought out exactly how a thing like that could be done, and in what style or state of mind a man could really do it. And when I was quite sure that I felt exactly like the murderer myself, of course I knew who he was. -- Has it never struck you that a man who does next to nothing but hears men's real sins is likely to be wholly aware of human evil?

Father Brown is one of the great detectives in world literature. Here you are served not only some of the best detective stories ever written but great literature in every measurement. The tales are thought-provoking, humorous, satirical, poetical and philosophical. They usually have an uncanny, weird, almost supernatural atmosphere -- and nevertheless how rational and logical the solutions turns out to be, the explanations in themselves tends to feel even more mysterious. Many authors have tried to imitate the paradoxical nature of these 53 stories; none has succeeded.

The English author Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874-1936) was a very prominent cultural figure at the beginning of the last century, a true intellectual freethinker who never submitted himself to conventional ideas only because they were in vogue. In Eugenics and Other Evils (1922), when the eugenic movement was at its peak, he warned for racial purity and totalitarianism decades before the world became aware of what had happened in Nazi Germany. As a Catholic and theologian, moral questions and problems were of the highest importance for him, and his love for crime fiction should be seen in that light.

G.K. Chesterton's The Man Who Was Thursday is a thrilling novel of deception, subterfuge, double-crossing and secret identities, and this Penguin Classics edition is edited with an introduction by Matthew Beaumont. The Central Anarchist Council is a secret society sworn to destroy the world. The council is governed by seven men, who hide their identities behind the names of the days of the week. Yet one of their number - Thursday - is not the revolutionary he claims to be, but a Scotland Yard detective named Gabriel Syme, sworn to infiltrate the organisation and bring the architects of chaos to justice. But when he discovers another undercover policeman on the Council, Syme begins to question his role in their operations. And as a desperate chase across Europe begins, his confusion grows, as well as his confidence in his ability to outwit his enemies, unravelling the mysteries of human behaviour and belief in a thrilling contest of wits. But he has still to face the greatest terror that the Council has: a man named Sunday, whose true nature is worse than Syme could ever have imagined ... In his introduction, Matthew Beaumont examines the book's themes of identity and confrontation, and explores its intriguing title. This edition also contains a chronology, notes and suggested further reading. G.K. Chesterton (1874-1938) attended the Slade School of Art, where he appears to have suffered a nervous breakdown, before turning his hand to journalism. A prolific writer throughout his life, his best-known books include The Napoleon of Notting Hill (1904), The Man Who Knew Too Much (1922) and the Father Brown stories. Chesterton converted to Roman Catholicism in 1922 and died in 1938. If you enjoyed The Man Who Was Thursday, you might enjoy Joseph Conrad's The Secret Agent, also available in Penguin Classics. 'The most thrilling book I have ever read' Kingsley Amis, author of Lucky Jim

Catholics and Protestants alike have long appreciated G. K. Chesterton's Orthodoxy as a classic work of Christian apologetics. In it, Chesterton recounts his quest to found a new religion, a philosophy of life that would include everything that makes the most sense of the world, only to discover at the end of his journey that the religion and its philosophy already exist. It is Christianity. This new version of Orthodoxy with annotations and guided reading by Trevin Wax will make Chesterton's classic more accessible for the first-time reader and will also provide greater insights for the person who has enjoyed Orthodoxy for many years.

Two of G. K. Chesterton's most important and well-known works are contained in this volume: Heretics, and Orthodoxy. In Heretics, Chesterton addresses the intellectual movements of his time that he considered most prominent and destructive. Chesterton confronts relativism, individualism, neo-paganism, and other trends of the modern period, paying special attention to the artists and intellectual elite of his time. Orthodoxy, a classic that is part memoir, part apologetic. It exhibits Chesterton at his finest--a combination of literary wit, theological acumen, and pointed cultural critique. The two works complement each other perfectly, providing an accessible entry point to the battleground of truth and falsehood.

Lexham Classics are beautifully typeset new editions of classic works. Each book has been carefully transcribed from the original texts, ensuring an accurate representation of the writing as the author intended it to be read.

All the Father Brown stories from five classic volumes--in one definitive edition

With his cherubic face and unworldly simplicity, his glasses and huge umbrella, Father Brown is one of the most unforgettable characters in literature.The Complete Father Brown Stories brings together all the stories featuring G. K. Chesterton's amateur sleuth--plus two additional cases, The Donnington Affair and The Mask of Midas, that were discovered in Chesterton's papers after his death. An introduction by Chesterton scholar Michael D. Hurley sheds new light on the beloved detective series.

For more than sixty-five years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,500 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

Chesterton makes one despair. I have been studying St. Thomas all my life and I could never have written such a book. - Etienne Gilson

He was a Christian liberator. Like a beneficent bomb, he blew out of the Church a quantity of stained glass of a v

In Defense of Sanity: The Best Essays of G.K. Chesterton is a captivating collection of G.K. Chesterton's most insightful and witty essays. Covering a wide range of topics, from literature to faith and politics, Chesterton's timeless wisdom shines through. These essays offer a refreshing perspective on the complexities of the modern world, championing traditional values and common sense. With humor and clarity, Chesterton's work continues to inspire and challenge readers to embrace enduring truths in a fast-paced world.

In Orthodoxy, G.K. Chesterton's most enduring work, Chesterton argues that the drama and mystery of Christianity are sanity and that the naturalistic machinations of atheism are madness.

We've all heard common reactions to orthodox Christian belief: Antiquated. Unimaginative. Repressive. Even Christians themselves are guilty of discarding. As Charles Colson writes in the forward, Evangelicals, despite their professed belief in the Bible, have not been exempt from the influence of the postmodern spirit.

This postmodern spirit is averse to Truth and the obedience that follows. People today, as in Chesterton's day, continue to look anywhere but heavenward for something to believe in.

Chesterton tells us why we simply must look heavenward, and why we'll be glad we did.

In Defense of Sanity: The Best Essays of G.K. Chesterton is a captivating collection of G.K. Chesterton's most insightful and witty essays. Covering a wide range of topics, from literature to faith and politics, Chesterton's timeless wisdom shines through. These essays offer a refreshing perspective on the complexities of the modern world, championing traditional values and common sense. With humor and clarity, Chesterton's work continues to inspire and challenge readers to embrace enduring truths in a fast-paced world.

Acclaimed as the best book ever written on St. Thomas, this outstanding profile introduces one of Christianity's most important and influential thinkers. G. K. Chesterton chronicles the saint's life, focusing on the man and the events that shaped him, rather than on theology. In a concise, witty, and eminently readable narrative, he illustrates the relevance of St. Thomas' achievements to modern readers.
Born into an aristocratic family, Thomas rejected a life of privilege to join a new order of preaching and teaching monks, the Dominicans. Chesterton compares Thomas' views to those of another famous thirteenth-century figure, St. Francis of Assisi. He also explores the influence of Aristotelian philosophy on Thomas' character, along with the effects of Parisian culture, society, and politics. The final chapter examines the impact of Thomas' work on later religious thinkers, including Martin Luther. This brief but vivid profile provides fascinating glimpses into the medieval scholastic movement, and it presents an excellent beginning to further explorations of St. Thomas Aquinas' works.

Essayist G.K. Chesterton was a master. However, reading his essays is more than just an exercise in studying literature at its best; it is also a chance to come across universal truths that still ring true today.

Chesterton's essays are only problematic in that there are much too many of them. five thousand plus! For the majority of GKC readers, it is impossible to even begin to approach them or know where to start.

Therefore, the best Chesterton articles have been chosen by Dale Ahlquist, Joseph Pearce, and Aidan Mackey, three of the world's foremost Chesterton experts. This collection will be enjoyed by both beginning and advanced Chesterton students.

Astonishingly diverse topics include gargoyles, judges, architects, mystics, ghosts, pyrotechnics, rain, and many others. Along with a study at the Bible, Shakespeare, Dickens, Jane Austen, George MacDonald, and T.S. Eliot. All in GKC's distinctive, powerful, but always quotable style. The consistency of Chesterton's thinking that unites everything is even more amazing than the variety. a true feast for the heart and mind.

While some of the articles in this collection might be well-known, many of them are being collected here for the first time in well over a century.

Contains three of Chesterton's most influential works. In Heretics, Chesterton sets forth one of the most telling critiques of contemporary religious notions ever. The Blatchford Controversies are the spirited public debate which led to the writing of Heretics. Then in Orthodoxy, Chesterton accepts the challenge of his opponents and sets forth his own reasons for accepting the Christian Faith.

All of the usual caveats about Chesterton's writing apply here: he cannot resist a digression, he cannot resist an alliterative allusion, he cannot resist a pun. He is so full of life that he is constantly threatening to spin out of control. He is not a scholar, he is not writing a sober appraisal, he is probably not sure of most of the biographical details of his subject. In spite of these defects, the book is a triumph. Chesterton is the embodiment of A Man in Full; he is the polar opposite of C.S. Lewis' Men without Chests. He is so full of good sense, penetrating insight, sound moral judgement, and the joy of life that it is all spilling out in every direction. Anyone who has read his book of literary criticism on Dickens will understand these points: this is criticism in an old key; it is appreciative criticism; it is an encounter with a writer by an entire man, and not just by a theory. It is wonderfully refreshing. No one today writes in a similar vein. Chesterton brings all of his larger-than-life presence to bear on this account of the life (sort of) and thought of one of history's great minds. And on just what aspect of Thomas' thought does he focus? In one diabolically politically incorrect section near the end of the book he bellows out that on a map like the mind of Aquinas the mind of Luther was barely a speck, although he would hasten to add that his little book suffers the same ignoble comparison. There is a great deal to Thomas that he, of necessity, leaves out. But what he does include is very astutely chosen, for he understands the basic structure of Thomas' thought and emphasizes the essentials. Thus there is a chapter on Thomas' argument with the Manicheans and his affirmation of the goodness of the world. He treats with great aplomb Thomas' notion of being and its relation to God. He does great honor to Thomas' mode of argumentation, to his sober balance and fair treatment of opponents. He is appreciative of the devotional side of Thomas, which does not come through explicitly in his philosophical writings but is important for an understanding of the man. It must be granted that the book is as much about Chesterton as it is about Aquinas. Those wanting a more straight-forward treatment should seek out one of Josef Pieper's books on Aquinas. But if you have any adventurous spirit, by all means read this book. It is written by a man who loves and understands his subject in his very bones, and who brings his subject to life in a way that is most uncanny.

Gilbert Keith Chesterton is one of the most celebrated and reverently esteemed figures in modern literature. He was a phenomenally prolific writer. After achieving early success as an illustrator, he subsequently established his fame as a playwright, novelist, poet, literary commentator, pamphleteer, essayist, lecturer, apologist, and editor. The depth and range of his work are astounding.

A pagan at only 12 and totally agnostic by 16, Chesterton had the remarkable experience of developing a personal, positive philosophy that turned out to be orthodox Christianity. Orthodoxy, his account of it all, has not lost its force as a timeless argument for the simple plausibility of traditional Christianity. C.S. Lewis and many other emerging Christian thinkers have found this book a pivotal step in their adoption of a credible Christian faith. This intellectual and spiritual autobiography of the leading 20th century essayist combines simplicity with subtlety in a model apologetic that appeals to today's generations of readers who face the same materialism and antisupernaturalism as did the man at war with his times.

Of the numerous works that Chesterton wrote, the most scintillating synthesis of his philosophy and deeply religious faith was manifested in his masterpiece, Orthodoxy, written when he was only thirty-four and which tells, in his inimitable, soaring prose, of his earth-shaking discovery that orthodoxy is the only satisfactory answer to the perplexing riddle of the universe. Orthodoxy is perhaps the most outstanding example of the originality of his style and the brilliance of his thought.

More than a thousand years ago, the ruler of a beleaguered kingdom saw a vision of the Virgin Mary that moved him to rally his chiefs and make a last stand. Alfred the Great freed his realm from Danish invaders in the year 878 with an against-all-odds triumph at the Battle of Ethandune. In this ballad, G. K. Chesterton equates Alfred's struggles with Christianity's fight against nihilism and heathenism--a battle that continues to this day.
One of the last great epic poems, this tale unfolds in the Vale of the White Horse, where Alfred fought the Danes in a valley beneath an ancient equine figure etched upon the Berkshire hills. Chesterton employs the mysterious image as a symbol of the traditions that preserve humanity. His allegory of the power of faith in the face of an invasive foe was much quoted in the dark days of 1940, when Britain was under attack by Nazis. This new edition offers an authoritative, inexpensive version of Chesterton's inspiring work.

This book takes you on a journey to solve mysteries, fight dragons, debate religion, and quarrel among politicians in the parliament.

It will have you smiling at its witty sarcasm, tearing up over its nostalgic rhythm, and frowning in perplexion at its mind-twisting ideas!

Chesterton was the best writer of the 20th century. He said something about everything and he said it better than anybody else.

Writes Dale Ahlquist, an American author.

This collection is timelessly invaluable. Here's what Ahlquist has to say about people first being introduced to Chesterton's works.

They are amazed by what they have discovered. They are thankful to have discovered it. And they are almost angry it has taken so long for them to make the discovery.

It has a ballad to hum your children to sleep, a poem to dissect in your literary thesis, a sonnet to enjoy on Christmas Eve by the fire, and everything else to dream of about poetry and literature.

The gods lie dead where the leaves lie red,

For the flame of the sun is flown,

The gods lie cold where the leaves lie gold,

And a child comes forth alone.

Chesterton, A Child of the Snows