A Short History Of England By G K Chesterton

Author : G. K. Chesterton
Publisher : Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN 13 : 9781537679495
Total Pages : 96 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (794 download)

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Download or read book A Short History of England (1917). By: G. K. Chesterton written by G. K. Chesterton and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2016-09-15 with total page 96 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It will be very reasonably asked why I should consent, though upon a sort of challenge, to write even a popular essay in English history, who make no pretence to particular scholarship and am merely a member of the public. G.K. Chesterton was one of the towering figures of British literature in the early twentieth century. A man of massive size, massive personality, and massive appetite, Chesterton famous personality, dress, and personality gave rise to an eponymous adjective: Chestertonian. Although he is renowned for the Father Brown detective series, Chesterton also wrote volumes of nonfiction. First published in 1917, A Short History of England is exactly that, serving Chesterton's goal of publishing "a popular book of history written from the standpoint of a member of the public." Filled with Chestertonian wit, the fast-moving history includes such gemlike observations as, Henry VIII "was almost as unlucky in his wives as they were in their husband." Of the great late Victorian/Edwardian trio of wits: George Bernard Shaw, Oscar Wilde, and Chesterton himself, it is Chesterton whose body of work -- writing in an unassuming manner, without great pretension -- may well persist for future generations far longer than its charming, genial author ever imagined. Gilbert Keith Chesterton, (29 May 1874 - 14 June 1936), better known as G. K. Chesterton, was an English writer, poet, philosopher, dramatist, journalist, orator, lay theologian, biographer, and literary and art critic. Chesterton is often referred to as the "prince of paradox."Time magazine has observed of his writing style: "Whenever possible Chesterton made his points with popular sayings, proverbs, allegories-first carefully turning them inside out." Chesterton is well known for his fictional priest-detective Father Brown, and for his reasoned apologetics. Even some of those who disagree with him have recognised the wide appeal of such works as Orthodoxy and The Everlasting Man.Chesterton, as a political thinker, cast aspersions on both Progressivism and Conservatism, saying, "The whole modern world has divided itself into Conservatives and Progressives. The business of Progressives is to go on making mistakes. The business of the Conservatives is to prevent the mistakes from being corrected."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. George Bernard Shaw, Chesterton's "friendly enemy" according to Time, said of him, "He was a man of colossal genius."Biographers have identified him as a successor to such Victorian authors as Matthew Arnold, Thomas Carlyle, Cardinal John Henry Newman, and John Ruskin.Chesterton was born in Campden Hill in Kensington, London, the son of Marie Louise, née Grosjean, and Edward Chesterton.He was baptised at the age of one month into the Church of England, though his family themselves were irregularly practising Unitarians.According to his autobiography, as a young man Chesterton became fascinated with the occult and, along with his brother Cecil, experimented with Ouija boards. Chesterton was educated at St Paul's School, then attended the Slade School of Art to become an illustrator. The Slade is a department of University College London, where Chesterton also took classes in literature, but did not complete a degree in either subject.