The Essential G. K. Chesterton

In 1900 a new writer took England by a storm. Writing intelligently and well on a wide variety of topics, G. K. Chesterton defied categorization. Although deeply patriotic, he was one of the few to oppose the Boer War. A gifted literary critic, he nevertheless defended 'penny dreadfuls' read by young boys and condemned by almost everyone else. And in an era of unbridled capitalism and fashionable socialism, he unleashed telling broadsides against both. In 1908 his brother Cecil wrote this biography. That book is now back in print in an enhanced and enlarged 'Centennial Edition' with numerous notes explaining the context and appendices with both sides of G. K. Chesterton's famous 1908 debate about socialism with H. G. Wells and Bernard Shaw, including Chesterton's marvelous "On Wells and a Glass of Beer."