We have an original copy of THE ILLUSTRATED LONDON NEW, SILVER JUBILEE RECORD NUMBER 1910-1935, we were wandering if it had any value or not. Please let me know , if you have any idea.

Thank you: Keith

In my opinion, the essay is the literary form where Chesterton's brilliance shines the brightest, and so these Illustrated News collections make for great reading. This volume, containing the columns from 1929-1931, is one of my favorites because he deals with a greater diversity of topics than, say, during the WWI years.

Chesterton was never afraid to poke fun at his own self or reputation, and in one of the first and funniest essays in the collection, titled " If I Was a Preacher," he remarks that a Utopia would be a place where he would be gagged and rendered speechless. He moves on in subsequent columns to confront the ideas of the era: the rise of Darwinism and scientism, the emergence of psychology and sociology as serious science, gender politics, prohibition, etc. Among the personalities he remarks on are H.L. Mencken, Clarence Darrow, Abraham Lincoln, T.S. Eliot, and Albert Einstein. Chesterton is especially entertaining when writing about modernism, and the myopia of a society which considered itself superior just because it was modern. There are a dozen or so essays on that alone. They make interesting reading because they are so applicable to the 21st century world, too.

For example: in a column here from August 1931, GKC satirizes the "modern" logic that says that marriage vows went out with Victorian dresses; he reasons that Socratic ideals must have gone out with long tunics, or that Spinoza's mathematics no longer made sense when he took off his shirt. Even those long familiar with Chesterton will find provocative and surprising reading here.

This volume of Chesterton's Collected Works brings back into print The End of the Armistice, the last book GKC wrote. I have always thought this was one of his finest pieces of non-fiction. It is thoughtful and articulate, as he always was. It shows how clearly he saw Hitler and the Nazis for what they were, at a time when an embarrassing number of English and Europeans who should have known better admired Nazi Germany. Finally, it connects Chesterton's abhorrence of the Third Reich with his religious convictions, making GKC in retrospect immensely more admirable as a Roman Catholic than Pius XII. The End of the Armistice is by itself worth the price of this book.

"Angels can fly because they take themselves lightly," G.K.Chesterton once remarked. Despite his considerable poundage, no one took himself more lightly than GKC. In this tiny tome, Dale Ahlquist, president of the American Chesterton Society, takes on a big subject--the 300 pound Victorian writer G.K.C.. Daunting as the task may be, he succeeds in giving a birds' eye view--Peter Pan style--flying as it were over twelve of the prolific author's best-known and most-loved books, lighting here and there to briefly explore historical and cultural connections.

Ahlquist in person takes himself as lightly as GKC, as anyone who has heard his lectures can attest, but here he comes off as earnest, at times even strident, as against the buoyant wit of his subject. The reason is that he has simply given Chesterton all the good lines, and been content to play straight man to his humorous star. He further straight-jackets himself by confining himself to GKC's nonfiction work, and we all know how many funny lines are scattered throughout the fiction.

No matter. Chesterton emerges as firmly on the side of the angels, applying, impossible as it may sound, the same light touch and genial sensibility to the pressing problems of our times--or rather his times nearly 100 years ago. All in all, here's the best intro to not only the man Chesterton, but a dozen of his best books.

With a growing interest in the life and literary works of the English writer G.K. Chesterton, I was in the market for a modern, one-volume biography of the man. A friend suggested this book, and I am SO glad he did! As literary biographies go, this one is excellent. Coren not only covers the great Chesterton's life with sympathy and humour, but also manages a solid critique and evaluation of the writer's output...and Chesterton's output was very substantial (rather like the man himself)! What is a real joy though, is to read a biography of a fine writer, written by another fine writer. And Michael Coren is all of that. This well-educated, erudite, and witty man is a wonderful author in his own right, and I look forward to further works by him. I suspect that a century from now, people may be reading a biography of Michael Coren, just as we can now read Coren on Chesterton. We can only hope that such a future author creates as pleasant and stimulating a work as the Canadian Michael Coren has here! I'll go so far as to say that this biography is a worthwhile read, even if you don't care about Chesterton. Biography doesn't get any better than this! -A wonderful book.

This small book of Francis Thompson's poems is a beautiful experience. "The Hound of Heaven" is the crowning glory of the piece. How often I have found my self running from the "Footsteps" following me. I think the line "All which I took from thee I did but take, Not for thy harms, But just that thou might'st seek it in My arms." is one of the most comforting to those who have lost and suffered. Also very special are Daisy and Little Jesus. Francis Thompson was born before his time a little appreciated then but he is definitely a poet for our moral declining culture. I am fancinated by his love of nature. I would recomend these little poems to anyone who feels lost, afraid, alone and in pain, and to anyone who wants to feel closer to God.

The Outline Of Sanity is a philosophical treatise on the social vision of renowned British author and Christian philosopher G.K. Chesterton (1874-1936), known as "distributism". Chesterton presents his antithesis to the impersonal bustle of increasingly fast-paced modern life, and offers a logical means for human beings swept by the tide to regain control over life and future. With a Catholic foundation yet meant to encompass people of all religious persuasions, Chesterton's vision of Distributism is a powerful one that justly demands consideration, particularly in this modern day and age where his concerns of a society of alienation multiply a thousandfold!

A neglected writer, these days, Chesterton sparkles here as always. If you are like me, that is, a fierce Chestertonian, I urge you to place this book next to Fr. Brown and Thursday. If you have never read the man, start here!

If you're interested in an unabridged audio edition, I recommend that narrated by Geoffrey Matthews over the David Case version. Matthews, to my way of thinking, has a better voice, produces more distinct characters, and brings the text more vividly to life. (Naturally, his recording seems to be harder to find just now.) David Case is OK - he sounds exactly like the narrator for Aird's 'Cause and Effects' - but I was spoilt by hearing Matthews' reading first.

"The Secret of Father Brown" - In this prologue, Father Brown has come to visit Flambeau, who has long since retired to a castle in Spain. Another visitor asks Father Brown for the secret of how he solves all his cases - and gets a startling answer. The epilogue at the end of the book is supposedly the end of the same evening (all the stories in between having been produced as examples). Don't worry, the narrative style is the same as usual; the prologue and epilogue are just here to tie all the stories together.

The key to coping with Chesterton's stories is to remember the dictum of Dorothy L. Sayers' Lord Peter: "When you've got how, you've got who." If you go haring off after motive in a Chesterton story, all I can wish you is luck; you'll need it. They're good stories, with lovely use of language and settings, but weird things happen for weirder reasons, sometimes. Just sit back and enjoy, and don't worry about whether anybody could *really* hope to get away with some of these crimes. Some stories have multiple crimes, where one crime is committed because of another. If you feel sympathy for some of these 'second' criminals, you might also like to try Chesterton's _The Club of Queer Trades_, even though Father Brown doesn't appear there.

"The Mirror of the Magistrate" - Agatha Christie's Poirot once asked Hastings to mention 'chocolate box' to him if he ever needed to be humbled with a reminder of failure. This case is the closest that Father Brown came to that - he refers to this case in later stories whenever his terse comments divert the authorities in the wrong direction in an investigation. I take comfort that *somebody* felt guilty about all those red herrings... :)

"The Man with Two Beards" - This case is sometimes referred to as the Moonshine murder. Michael Moonshine is a legendary burglar, who "stunned people - and bound and gagged them," but who made it a point of honour never to kill anyone. Now he's apparently in the neighbourhood - but someone died during this robbery. What really happened? (Incidentally, for Moonshine-style burglary, let me recommend Looking Glass Studios' game _Thief_.)

"The Song of the Flying Fish" - Locked-room theft (that is, a locked-room mystery which is a theft rather than the traditional murder). The rich man's favourite toy, an antique glass bowl of solid gold fish, gave him his favourite joke when meeting new people: "Have you seen my gold fish?" Now somebody, upon seeing them, has caused them to disappear.

"The Actor and the Alibi" - Locked-room murder. How was the theater manager murdered in his locked office, especially when most of the company was on stage for an undress rehearsal? The only member of the company who wasn't in view of witnesses - a hot-tempered Italian actress dissatisfied with her part - had locked herself in her dressing-room, hence Father Brown being called in to reason with his parishioner. (On being asked whether to break the door down, the priest advises against it, contrasting her with a certain broody metaphysical type; the other half of the comparison can be found in Chesterton's "A Tall Story" in _The Paradoxes of Mr. Pond_.)

"The Vanishing of Vaudrey" - Locked-room disappearance, more or less. The local squire disappeared in the middle of the morning in the tiny village near his home. Father Brown begins by accompanying Vaudrey's secretary in the search, and hears his troubles while picking up background information on the setting and characters.

"The Worst Crime in the World" - Father Brown accompanied his friend Granby to Sir John Musgrave's castle, but not to assist in finding out if Sir John's son was a good credit risk. Young Musgrave needs money because he wants to get married to Father Brown's niece - who isn't quite sure about him. Unfortunately, while setting Granby's mind at rest, Sir John made a cryptic pronouncement about his son's character...

"The Red Moon of Meru" - Again, a theft rather than a murder, and leaves an impression much like that of 'The Song of the Flying Fish' (see above). This time, a mystic has apparently made a ruby vanish - the best thing that ever happened to his reputation, in terms of psychic phenomena.

"The Chief Mourner of Marne" - The Marquis of Marne dropped all his old friends and left England many years ago, upon the sudden death of his best friend and idol, his cousin Maurice Mair. Even upon his return, he has shut himself up and appears to be obsessed with religion - his old friends often bewail the 'vampires' he's taken up with. Enough so that one of them now complains to Father Brown, who isn't about to hear his religion slandered...

"The Secret of Flambeau" - Returning to the scene of the prologue, the American visitor questions the wisdom of Father Brown's charity with criminals, to be countered by a rather startling defense from Flambeau. (See the first few stories in _The Innocence of Father Brown_ if you're not already familiar with Flambeau's history.)

This book has enough quotes to be called GK's greatest hits. The author does a great job of giving us the big picture of a big guy and his big faith in our big (that is, universal) Church. If you're a GK reader, you'll love this book. If you're not a GK reader, read this book and you will be. This book also happens to serve as a very fine book on Catholic apologetics in its own right.