Summer vacation turns into an adventure for the three Nicholl sisters when Mr. Gilbert Chesterton and his wife come to town. Eleven-year-old Clare hopes to write a detective story. Eight-year-old Cece wants to be a champion roller-skater. And ten-year-old Joan just wants to learn how to play the locked piano in the family living room. But as they befriend the Chestertons, skating accidents, surprising friendships, puppet shows, and mystery solving ensue!

On the publication of Orthodoxy in 1908, Wilfrid Ward hailed G. K. Chesterton as a prophetic figure whose thought was to be classed with that Burke, Butler, Coleridge, and John Henry Newman. When Chesterton died in 1936, T. S. Eliot pronounced that 'Chesterton's social and economic ideas were the ideas for his time that were fundamentally Christian and Catholic'. But how did he come by these ideas? Eliot noted that he attached 'significance also to his development, to his beginnings as well as to his ends, and to the movement from one to the other'. It is on that development that this book is focused. Chesterton and the Romance of Orthodoxy is an exploration of G.K. Chesterton's imaginative and spiritual development, from his early childhood in the 1870s to his intellectual maturity in the first decade of the twentieth century. William Oddie draws extensively on Chesterton's unpublished letters and notebooks, his journalism, and his early classic writings, to reveal the writer in his own words. In the first major study of Chesterton to draw on this source material, Oddie charts the progression of Chesterton's ideas from his first story (composed at the age of three and dictated to his aunt Rose) to his apologetic masterpiece Orthodoxy, in which he openly established the intellectual foundations on which the prolific writing of his last three decades would build. Part One explores the years of Chesterton's obscurity; his childhood, his adolescence, his years as a student and a young adult. Part Two examines Chesterton's emergence on to the public stage, his success as one of the leading journalists of his day, and his growing renown as a man of letters. Written to engage all with an interest in Chesterton's life and times, Oddie's accessible style ably conveys the warmth and subtlety of thought that delighted the first readership of the enigmatic GKC.

The first one-volume reader of the best of G. K. Chesterton’s writing in the full range of genres he mastered. Chesterton was a towering literary figure of the early twentieth century, accomplished and prolific in many literary forms. A forceful proponent of Christianity and a critic of both conservatism and liberalism, he set out to describe nothing less than the spiritual journey of humanity in Orthodoxy and The Everlasting Man, his most enduring books. He is famous as well for his beloved Father Brown detective stories, his satirical and comic verse, his profoundly witty paradoxes and aphorisms, and his penetrating studies of such figures as Charles Dickens, St. Francis of Assisi, and St. Thomas Aquinas. The Everyman Chesterton contains samples of his poems, stories, essays, and biographies, as well as the influential works of religious, political, and social thought in which he championed the common man and for which he is most admired. Table of Contents: AUTOBIOGRAPHY Hearsay Evidence The Man with the Golden Key CHARLES DICKENS The Dickens Period The Boyhood of Dickens The Youth of Dickens The Pickwick Papers The Great Popularity Dickens and America Dickens and Christmas The Time of Transition Later Life and Works The Great Dickens Characters On the Alleged Optimism of Dickens A Note on the Future of Dickens THE VICTORIAN AGE IN LITERATURE The Victorian Compromise and Its Enemies The Great Victorian Novelists The Great Victorian Poets ORTHODOXY Introduction in Defence of Everything Else The Maniac The Suicide of Thought The Ethics of Elfland The Flag of the World The Paradoxes of Christianity The Eternal Revolution The Romance of Orthodoxy Authority and the Adventurer THE EVERLASTING MAN Introduction: The Plan of This Book The Riddles of the Gospel The Strangest Story in the World The Witness of the Heretics The Escape from Paganism The Five Deaths of the Faith Conclusion: The Summary of This Book ST THOMAS AQUINAS On Two Friars The Aristotelian Revolution A Meditation on the Manichees The Approach to Thomism The Permanent Philosophy The Sequel to St Thomas FATHER BROWN STORIES The Blue Cross The Queer Feet The Wrong Shape The Resurrection of Father Brown The Miracle of Moon Crescent The Dagger with Wings The Doom of the Darnaways The Song of the Flying Fish The Red Moon of Meru The Chief Mourner of Marne The Scandal of Father Brown The Quick One The Blast of the Book The Green Man The Crime of the Communist The Vampire of the Village POEMS Wine and Water Antichrist, or the Reunion of Christendom: An Ode Elegy in a Country Churchyard Lepanto The Secret People The Rolling English Road The Donkey

In these stories, the notorious criminal Flambeau has reformed and is now a great detective. He is often aided by his friend and confidant Father Brown.

Apart from his detective stories, G. K. Chesterton is well known for his reasoned apologetics. Even some of those who disagree with him have recognized the wide appeal of his Theological Works. Chesterton routinely referred to himself as an "orthodox" Christian, and came to identify this position more and more with Catholicism, eventually converting to Catholicism from High Church Anglicanism. "Heretics" is a collection of 20 essays and presents Chesterton's first book of Christian apologetics. Chesterton describes his understanding of the words Orthodox and Heretic as they apply to, and have changed in, the modern period. Chesterton argues that in modernity, "The word 'orthodoxy' not only no longer means being right; it practically means being wrong". He continues to make a point that society no longer tolerates a man's life philosophy or religion, yet is increasingly absorbed in "art for art's sake". "Orthodoxy" has become a classic of Christian apologetics. 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. "The Everlasting Man" is the third of Chesterton's Christian apologetics book. It is, to some extent, a deliberate rebuttal of H. G. Wells' The Outline of History, disputing Wells' portrayals of human life and civilization as a seamless development from animal life and of Jesus Christ as merely another charismatic figure. Chesterton detailed his own spiritual journey in Orthodoxy, but in this book he tries to illustrate the spiritual journey of humanity, or at least of Western civilization.

This edition includes: The Father Brown Stories: The Innocence of Father Brown The Wisdom of Father Brown The Incredulity of Father Brown The Secret of Father Brown The Scandal of Father Brown The Donnington Affair The Mask of Midas Novels: The Napoleon of Notting Hill The Man who was Thursday The Ball and the Cross Manalive The Flying Inn The Return of Don Quixote Short Stories: The Club of Queer Trades The Man Who Knew Too Much The Trees of Pride Tales of the Long Bow The Poet and the Lunatics Four Faultless Felons The Paradoxes of Mr. Pond The White Pillars Murder The Sword of Wood Poetry: Greybeards At Play The Wild Knight and Other Poems Wine, Water, and Song Poems, 1916 The Ballad of St. Barbara and Other Verses The Ballad of the White Horse Gloria in Profundis Ubi Ecclesia Rotarians Plays: Magic – A Fantastic Comedy The Turkey and the Turk Literary Criticism: A Defence of Penny Dreadfuls Appreciations and Criticisms of the Works of Charles Dickens The Victorian Age in Literature Charles Dickens - Critical Study Hilaire Belloc Robert Louis Stevenson Historical Works: A Short History of England The Barbarism of Berlin Letters to an Old Garibaldian The Crimes of England The New Jerusalem Theological Works: Heretics Orthodoxy The Everlasting Man The Catholic Church and Conversion Eugenics and other Evils Essays: The Defendant Varied Types All Things Considered Tremendous Trifles What's Wrong with the World Alarms and Discursions A Miscellany of Men Divorce versus Democracy Utopia of Usurers and Other Essays The Superstition of Divorce The Uses of Diversity Fancies Versus Fads The Outline of Sanity The Thing Come to Think All is Grist Sidelights on New London and Newer York All I Survey The Well and the Shallows As I was Saying Other Essays... Travel Sketches: Irish Impressions What I Saw in America Biographical Works Autobiography by G. K. Chesterton G. K. Chesterton – A Critical Study by Julius West

Here is a special two-in-one book that is both by G.K. Chesterton and about Chesterton. This volume offers an irresistible opportunity to see who this remarkable man really was. Chesterton was one of the most stimulating and well- loved writers of the 20th century. His 100 books, and hundreds of essays and columns on a great variety of themes have made G.K. Chesterton the most widely quoted writers of modern times. Here is Chesterton in his own words, in a book he preferred not to write, but did so near the end of his life after much insistence by friends and admirers. Critic Sydney Dark wrote after Chesterton died that ""perhaps the happiest thing that happened in Gilbert Chesterton's extraordinarily happy life was that his autobiography was finished a few weeks before his death. It is a stimulating, exciting, tremendously interesting book. It is a draught indeed, several draughts one after the other of human and literary champagne.""

This eBook features the unabridged text of ‘Autobiography’ from the bestselling edition of ‘The Complete Works of G. K. Chesterton’. Having established their name as the leading publisher of classic literature and art, Delphi Classics produce publications that are individually crafted with superior formatting, while introducing many rare texts for the first time in digital print. The Delphi Classics edition of Chesterton includes original annotations and illustrations relating to the life and works of the author, as well as individual tables of contents, allowing you to navigate eBooks quickly and easily. eBook features: * The complete unabridged text of ‘Autobiography’ * Beautifully illustrated with images related to Chesterton’s works * Individual contents table, allowing easy navigation around the eBook * Excellent formatting of the textPlease visit www.delphiclassics.com to learn more about our wide range of titles

In 'The Complete Novels of G. K. Chesterton', readers are presented with a collection of the renowned author's literary works that showcase his unique storytelling style, characterized by wit, humor, and a deep exploration of moral and philosophical themes. Chesterton's novels, including 'The Man Who Was Thursday' and 'The Napoleon of Notting Hill', are written in a fantastical and allegorical manner, drawing readers into a world where everyday occurrences are imbued with profound meaning. With a keen eye for social commentary and a sharp wit, Chesterton's novels offer a thought-provoking and entertaining reading experience. The vivid imagery and well-crafted characters make this collection a must-read for fans of classic literature. G. K. Chesterton, known for his prolific writing across various genres, was a prominent figure in the early 20th century literary scene. His keen observations of human nature and society led him to create novels that are both entertaining and intellectually stimulating. 'The Complete Novels of G. K. Chesterton' is recommended for readers who enjoy thought-provoking and imaginative storytelling that delves into deep philosophical themes while maintaining a sense of humor and wit.