G. K. Chesterton

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.

Edited by Dale Ahlquist

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 with two interesting essays by Chesterton himself. Well-known Chesterton expert, Dale Ahlquist, has gathered together all the insightful commentaries and explanatory notes. Here is the story behind the modern conflict between Christianity and Islam, between Protestant and Catholic Europe, and the origin of the Feast of the Holy Rosary. A fascinating blend of literature, history, religion and romance!

"A valuable reference book that is also a great read!"
--Therese Warmus, Literary Editor, Gilbert Magazine

G.K. Chesterton

was one of the most prolific and renowned literary writers of the 20th Century. Dale Ahlquist, author of G.K. Chesterton: Apostle of Common Sense, is the President of the American Chesterton Society.

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.

G. K. Chesterton was a literary giant of his age. With anexceptional intellect, he wrote about history, politics, economics, philosophy, social and literary criticism, and theology. He published essays, novels, biographies, short stories, and poetry, and the Christian classics Heretics, Orthodoxy, and The Everlasting Man, which C. S. Lewiscredits as instrumental in his conversion to Christianity.

With much of his finest material out of print or hard to find, modern readers have long needed a standard collection of his best thoughts. KevinBelmonte's The Quotable Chesterton bringsthem to you arranged alphabetically by topic, with complete original sourcedocumentation.

There are entries from Adventure to Cheese, Politics toÉmile Zola, interspersed with essays about Chesterton's life and times.Hundreds of passages drawn from Chesterton's fiction, poetry, essays, and otherbooks showcase a man the New York Timeshailed as a "brilliant English essayist" and George Bernard Shaw called a"colossal genius."

Endorsements:

"There isn't a writer who gets me pacing and smiling andthinking like G.K. Chesterton. His every paradigm shift is an adjustment to my mentalcompass, and so a gift." --DONALD MILLER, author of the New York Times bestsellers AMillion Miles in a Thousand Years and BlueLike Jazz

"Over the years, I have delivered thousands of lectures, speeches, talks, and sermons; I have written hundreds of articles, essays, books, and reviews; it is an exceedingly rare occasion when any of them shouldfail to contain the words 'Chesterton once said.' Kevin Belmonte here revealsthat fountain of wit, wisdom, and wonder, G.K. Chesterton, in all hisirresistibly, irrepressibly, quotable splendor."--GEORGE GRANT, Pastor, ParishPresbyterian Church, and Chancellor, New College Franklin

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.

"We need a new kind of mystic," writes Fr. Robert Wild; and in The Tumbler of God, he presents a spiritual portrait of G.K. Chesterton that convincingly shows why he is precisely the kind of new mystic we need. Chesterton's mysticism was grounded in an experiential knowledge that existence is a gift from God, and that the only response is a spirituality of gratitude and praise for the unveiled beauty of creation. "What was his 'secret'? It was to love the splendor of the real, and to live in adulthood the innocence and wonder of the child who sees everything for the first time. The Gospel tells us we must become again like little children in order to enter the kingdom. Chesterton shows us how."

"One of the best books I have ever read on Chesterton."--Dale Ahlquist

"A book that speaks openly of what is, in the end, the most important thing about him: his friendship with God."--Stratford Caldecott

"A ground-breaking examination of G.K. Chesterton."--Mark Sebanc

"Robert Wild's fascinating perspective is a welcome addition to the enlivening field of Chestertonian studies."--Chris Chan

"An exploration, made with deep and affectionate familiarity with GKC's writings, of what is meant by the word 'mystic'."--Francis Phillips, The Catholic Herald