G. K. Chesterton Books

"It is the purpose of the writer to attempt an explanation, not of whether the Christian Faith can be believed, but of how he personally has come to believe it." G.K. Chesterton ; Preface to Orthodoxy Orthodoxy (1908) is a book by G. K. Chesterton that has become a classic of Christian apologetics. Chesterton considered this book a companion to his other work, Heretics. In the book's preface Chesterton states the purpose is to "attempt an explanation, not of whether the Christian faith can be believed, but of how he personally has come to believe it." In it, Chesterton presents an original view of Christian religion. He sees it as the answer to natural human needs, the "answer to a riddle" in his own words, and not simply as an arbitrary truth received from somewhere outside the boundaries of human experience. "If you've got an afternoon, read his masterpiece of Christian apologetics ... Thomas Aquinas meets Eddie Van Halen." -James Parker ; The Atlantic

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.

The thirty-nine short essays that make up Chesterton's delightful book are the result of "sitting still and letting marvels and adventures settle on him like flies." Actually, the author does move around quite a bit-to Germany, France, and on foot in England when he tires of waiting for a train. Everywhere he goes, Chesterton looks at ordinary things and asks us to see how extraordinary they are: the contents of his pockets, the items in a railway station, pedestrians in the street. What appear to be trifles are actually tremendous, and he uses them as a springboard to expound on Christianity, the nuclear family, democracy, and the like with supreme clarity and wit. The essays gathered here are a testament to G.K. Chesterton's faith-not his faith in religion or a higher power, but in the ability to discover something wonderful in the objects, the experiences, and the people that cross our paths every single day. With his unique brand of humor and insight, he demonstrates how the commonplace adds enormous value to the landscape of daily life. Full of both good sense and nonsense, Chesterton's commentaries-first published nearly a century ago-remain fresh today.

G.K. Chesterton's journey through the United States unfolds with keen observations and sharp wit, providing a thought-provoking commentary on American culture, politics, and society. His insightful and humorous perspective invites readers to experience America in a unique light, blending personal anecdotes with broader reflections on the nation's character.

Exploring the undervaluation of ordinary life, this work critiques the dismissal of popular literature as "vulgar." It argues that while such literature may lack literary sophistication, it serves as a vital expression of collective imagination. The text contrasts past attitudes of the educated class, who ignored popular works, with the significance these narratives hold for millions. By highlighting this neglect, the author invites readers to reconsider the worth and impact of everyday stories in shaping cultural identity and imagination.

Francis of Assisi is, after Mary of Nazareth, the greatest saint in the Christian calendar, and one of the most influential men in the whole of human history. By universal acclaim, this biography by G. K. Chesterton is considered the best appreciation of Francis's life--the one that gets to the heart of the matter. For Chesterton, Francis is a great paradoxical figure, a man who loved women but vowed himself to chastity; an artist who loved the pleasures of the natural world as few have loved them, but vowed himself to the most austere poverty, stripping himself naked in the public square so all could see that he had renounced his worldly goods; a clown who stood on his head in order to see the world aright. Chesterton gives us Francis in his world-the riotously colorful world of the High Middle Ages, a world with more pageantry and romance than we have seen before or since. Here is the Francis who tried to end the Crusades by talking to the Saracens, and who interceded with the emperor on behalf of the birds. Here is the Francis who inspired a revolution in art that began with Giotto and a revolution in poetry that began with Dante. Here is the Francis who prayed and danced with pagan abandon, who talked to animals, who invented the creche.

Some of the topics of these 130 columns written for The Illustrated London News include "The Fashion of Psychoanalysts", "Doubts about Darwinism", "Liberty and Self Government", "Errors About Detective Stories", "The Settling of America", "Popular Literature and Popular Science", "Marxism and History", "The Threat of Novelty", "The Infinite Variety of Woman", "The Soul of the Modern Peasant", "Gilbert and the Jingoists", "Socialist Order and Democracy". Chesterton lovers will be delighted to find this treasure filled with jewels quite the match of his best writing.

Some of the topics of the 130 columns in the volume include "The Poetry of Commonplace Things", "The Rhetoric of Pacifism", "Socialism and Individualism", "The Morality of Melodrama", "Despotism and Democracies", "The Rails of Reality", "Patriotism Become True", "Facts versus False History", "The Fury of America", "Relativity against Reason" and "Controlling the Common Man".Most of the weekly articles Chesterton wrote for The Illustrated London News have never been printed in book form until Ignatius Press undertook to do the collected works. These volumes contain all of Chesterton's columns in The Illustrated London News , beginning in 1905. The great majority have never appeared in book form. Chesterton lovers will be delighted to find this treasure filled with jewels quite the match of his best writing.

Volumes XXVII through XXXVII of The Collected Works Of G. K. Chesterton are collected columns from The Illustrated London News. Thesevolumes contain all of Chesterton s weekly columns beginning in1905. Volume XXIX contains 1911-1913. Though written for his very popular newspaper column almost one hundredyears ago, Chesterton s timeless wisdom is just as relevant today as itwas then.Volume XXIX FashionableSuffragettes and the Truly Feminine, Bad Sentences and Bad Theology,Capitalism and Marriage, The Failure of Words in Our Time, OnGlorifying Divorce, The Modern Anti-Democracy, Modern Womanhood, TooMuch Vox Populi?, The Curse of Labels, The Broadening Down ofDemocracy, Science in America, The Causes of War, On BeingOld-Fashioned, and The Right to Denounce Things. G. K. Chesterton Columns from Illustrated London News, 1911-1913 600 pages, paperback Ignatius Press 9780898701722

Chesterton, G. K.