G. K. Chesterton Books & Bio

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 ...

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 ...

Hilaire Belloc called "Lepanto" Chesterton's greatest poem and the greatest poem of his generation. But not only have English classes neglected this masterpiece of rhyme and meter, History classes have neglected the story of the pivotal battle upon which the poem is based. This book brings together the poem, the historical background of the famous battle, a riveting account of the battle itself, and a discussion of its historical consequences. The poem is fully annotated, and is supplemented ...

Discover G.K. Chesterton's mysterious and thrilling novel, The Man Who Was Thursday, with this Penguin Classics edition. Get ready to be taken on an adventure full of deception, subterfuge, double-crosses and secret identities as Scotland Yard detective Gabriel Syme infiltrates the Central Anarchist Council and attempts to bring justice to those plotting destruction in the world. Edited with an introduction by Matthew Beaumont, The Man Who Was Thursday offers readers a truly captivating exper...

Introducing In Defense of Sanity, a book featuring the best selected essays of G.K. Chesterton, one of the greatest 20th century man of letters! Whether you are exploring GKC's works for the first time, or you are a seasoned student, this book contains an immense variety of timeless truths that will make your reading experience unforgettable. In Defense of Sanity is edited by three world-renowned authorities on Chesterton - Dale Ahlquist, Joseph Pearce, and Aidan Mackey - who have joined forc...

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...

In 1925, just three years after his reception into the Catholic Church, G.K. Chesterton published a work that proclaimed anew to the doubters of the age that the key to history had arrived nearly two thousand years before. Contra the evolutionists, he first points to the singular nature of man from his very beginnings; and, later, contra the comparative religionists, points to the uniqueness of Christianity in relation to all other paths. Two of those paths, the way of myth and the way of phi...

In this brilliant reflection on the poor friar of Assisi, G.K. Chesterton unfolds the life and times of St. Francis, from his conversion as a young man to his receiving of the Stigmata at the end of his life. While many modern biographers stumble in their effort to grasp the essence of the saint, Chesterton shows that Francis' entire life, his prayer, his poverty, his asceticism, his love of creation, and all his eccentricities, flowed from his profound love for Christ and all men. In Chester...

St. Thomas Aquinas - For Chesterton, Thomas Aquinas is a man of mystery, who though born into a noble Neapolitan family chose the life of a mendicant friar. Shy and lumbering, his classmates dubbed him "the Dumb Ox". However he was to lead a revolution in Christian thought. Chesterton's portrayal will engage, enlighten and sometimes confound. His seminal sketch of the life and thought of this great man is as relevant today as when it was first published in 1933. ...... St Francis of Assisi - ...

Here is a special two-in-one book that is both by G.K. Chesterton and about Chesterton. This volume offers an irresistible opportunity to see who this remarkable man really was. Chesterton was one of the most stimulating and well-loved writers of the 20th century. His 100 books, and hundreds of essays and columns on a great variety of themes have made G.K. Chesterton the most widely quoted writers of modern times. Here is Chesterton in his own words, in a book he preferred not to write, but d...

The Catholic Church and Conversion offers an intriguing look at the reasons why a renowned English writer and thinker, G.K. Chesterton, ultimately chose Catholicism over his protestant upbringing. This inspiring book details the two essential elements critical to Chesterton’s conversion: faith in objective truth coupled with freedom from personal sinning. Through his indelible and strikingly honest writing style, he describes his spiritual journey in vivid detail and provides a fascinating wi...

In 1910, when the industrialists and intelligentsia both promised only “progress,” G. K. Chesterton was among the few in the West who could see the brewing ideological storms that would soon make landfall, not just in the form of world wars and totalitarianism but in the pervasive modern dehumanization that consumes us to this day. More than a century ago, Chesterton perceived the beginnings of “woke capital” and how it aligns with and promotes social progressivism. There is an unspoken allia...

G. K. Chesterton is one of the few Christian thinkers admired and quoted equally by Christians of all types and even by non-Christians. Each daily reflection in this book--from Ash Wednesday through the Second Sunday of Easter--begins with thoughts from the finest writings of Chesterton on an appropriate theme and supported by Scripture, a prayer, and a suggested activity for spiritual growth.

"The disintegration of rational society started in the drift from the hearth and the family", wrote G. K. Chesterton in 1933. "The solution must be a drift back."In a world that has lost touch with normality, it takes a pioneer to rediscover the wonders of the normal. This masterful compilation of texts and quotes from the prolific G. K. Chesterton, edited by Dale Ahlquist, illustrates the glory of the family--the heritage of romance, love, marriage, parenthood, and home. It is a hymn in prai...

The Ballad of the White Horse is one of the last great epic poems in the English language. On the one hand it describes King Alfred's battle against the Danes in 878. On the other hand it is a timeless allegory about the ongoing battle between Christianity and the forces of nihilistic heathenism. Filled with colorful characters, thrilling battles and mystical visions, it is as lively as it is profound. Chesterton incorporates brilliant imagination, atmosphere, moral concern, chronological con...