On the Place of Gilbert Chesterton in English Letters

by Hilaire Belloc

Hardcover, no dust jacket. Very good; slightly yellowed wrappers and cover.

84 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 1940

About the author

Joseph Hilaire Pierre René Belloc, French-born British writer, is considered a master of light English prose and also widely known for his droll verse, especially The Bad Child's Book of Beasts in 1896.

The sharp wit of Belloc, an historian, poet, and orator, extended across a large literary output and strong political and religious convictions. Throughout his career, he prolifically wrote across a range of genres and produced histories, essays, travelogues, poetry, and satirical works.

Cautionary Tales for Children collects humorous yet dark morals, and the historical works of Hilaire Belloc often reflected his staunch Catholicism and critique of Protestant interpretations. He led advocates of an economic theory that promoted and championed distribution of small-scale property ownership as a middle ground between capitalism and socialism, alongside Gilbert Keith Chesterton, his close friend.

In politics, Hilaire Belloc served as a member of Parliament for the Liberal party, but the establishment disillusioned him. His polemical style and strong opinions made him a controversial figure, who particularly viewed modernism, secularism, and financial capitalism as threats to traditional Christian society in his critiques.

Reviews

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Belloc on Chesterton, really good.

[Nicholas Whyte]

http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1216815.html[return][return]An odd little book which must have belonged to someone of my grandparents' generation (published by the London Catholic firm Sheed & Ward in 1940). Belloc insists that Chesterton is the greatest English writer of his own lifetime, and weaves into the argument many of the assertions common to the English Catholic intelligentsia of his day. The only point that I found new or interesting was his contrast between Chesterton, as an explicitly English writer, and Kipling, as an Imperial writer. I'm not well enough read in either writer to take a firm position; I certainly enjoy Chesterton more than Kipling (he is funnier and not quite as politically awful). I shall check what Margaret Drabble thinks of them all, and then try to get hold of The Light That Failed.

[Roger Buck · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some fault this short book suffers for brevity and lack of depth ... I could care less and give it an unrepentant 5 stars! For me, pretty much everything Belloc touches turns to magic.

I hope to review this at more length at the growing Hilaire Belloc section of my blog: http://corjesusacratissimum.org/tag/h... (which I shamelessly plug for any fellow friends of beloved HB who love him like I do ...)