SOURCE: "The Pre-War Novels," in The Novels of G. K Chesterton: A Study in Art and Propaganda, Barnes & Noble Books, 1975, pp. 40-76.

In the following excerpt, Boyd centers on the various types of allegory apparent in Chesterton's novel.

It is difficult to find any obvious common characteristic in the novels which Chesterton published between 1908 and 1914. They mark a distinctive period in his literary development and accurately reflect his political thinking in the pre-War years, but more than any other group of novels they create the impression of being heterogeneous in character. The themes found in each of them suggest his preoccupations in a particular period, but they are themes which link them not so much to each other, but to the earlier and later groups of novels. The curious double allegory of The Man Who Was Thursday has only a slight connection with the themes developed in the...