G. K. Chesterton Summary

Biography EssayBest known for his Father Brown detective stories, and most admired as a thinker for his fulllength books, of which he wrote almost fifty, G. K. Chesterton is numbered among the great e... Read more

"G. K. Chesterton," declared William B. Furlong in the Dictionary of Literary Biography, "was a legend in London literary circles even during his lifetime. George Bernard Shaw called him 'a man of col... Read more

Gilbert Keith Chesterton was a poet who is also remembered as an essayist, a novelist and short-story writer, a literary critic, a playwright, and a religious controversialist. As the author of more t... Read more

Gilbert Keith Chesterton, journalist, essayist, master ideologue of religion and politics, and a seminal figure in the development of the modern detective story, was born on 29 May 1874 in Campden Hil... Read more

G. K. Chesterton, one of the most versatile men of letters of his generation--he distinguished himself, to a greater or lesser degree, as essayist, poet, novelist, playwright, detective story writer, ... Read more

In the following excerpt, Kantra examines G. K. Chesterton and C. S. Lewis, concentrating on their roles as religious satirists and Christian apologists. The intricate affinities of G. K. Chesterto... Read more

‘I won't discuss whether we can be killed by something that happened in the thirteenth century; but I'm jolly certain that we can't be killed by something that never ha... Read more

In the following review, Hayes and Tololyan consider Borges' use of “Chestertonian” themes in his own detective stories. Traces, tracks, texts, tradition: Borges is no stranger... Read more

In the following review, Knox describes Chesterton's writings as an outlet in which the author demonstrates his personal philosophies. When you met Chesterton in life, the physical bigness o... Read more

In the following review, Cervo argues that Chesterton's Valentin character was created to personify those who would destroy the Catholic Church. In the Father Brown story, “The Secret... Read more

In the following review, Raubicheck discusses Chesterton's approach to allegory in his writings. G.K. Chesterton and Dorothy Sayers share the unusual distinction of being among this century&... Read more

In the following essay, Dooley demonstrates how Chesterton used satire in his poetry and prose not simply as a gently humorous device, but also as a persuasive tool backed by moral substance. In hi... Read more

In the following review of Chesterton's Poems, the reviewer concludes that the volume contains both the “best and … worst” of Chesterton's works, and that Chesterton... Read more

In the following review of works by and about G. K. Chesterton, the reviewer observes that Chesterton's The Ballad of St. Barbara and Other Verses reveals the poet's talent as a “... Read more

In the following excerpt, Benet gives a positive review of The Collected Poems of G. K. Chesterton, concluding that Chesterton's poetry in particular “communicates noble emotion.”... Read more

In the following essay, Petitpas examines the philosophical, Christian, and Romantic elements that influence both Chesterton's own poetry and his ideas about poetry in general. Critics of po... Read more