G.K. Chesterton, London and Modernity [Hardcover]

G. K. Chesterton, London and Modernityis the first book to explore the persistent theme of the city in Chesterton's writing. Situating him in relation to both Victorian and Modernist literary paradigms, the book explores a range of theoretical and methodological approaches to address the way his imaginative investments and political interventions conceive urban modernity and the central figure of London. While Chesterton's work has often been valued for its wit and whimsy, this book argues that he is also a distinctive urban commentator, whose sophistication has been underappreciated in comparison to more canonical contemporaries. With chapters written by leading scholars in the field of 20th-century literature, the book also provides fresh readings and suggests new contexts for central texts such asThe Man Who Was Thursday,The Napoleon of Notting Hilland the Father Brown stories. It also discusses lesser-known works, such as Manalive and The Resurrection of Rome, drawing out their significance for scholars interested in urban representation and practice in the first three decades of the 20th century.

Matthew Beaumontis Senior Lecturer in English, University College London, UK. His previous books includeThe Task of the Critic: Terry Eagleton in Dialogue.

Matthew Inglebyis a Teaching Fellow at University College London, UK.

This is an important and wide-ranging collection of essays that no Chestertonian can afford to miss, particularly given that Chesterton studies, on an upswing though they may be of late, still constitute a far from oversubscribed area for scholarly attention. Keith Wilson, University of Ottawa,English Literature in Transition 1880  1920

Introduction, Matthew Beaumont and Matthew Ingleby
1. Dull Would He Be of Soul : Why Chesterton Loved London, Michael Hurley
2. Chesterton's London(s): Singular or Plural? Lynne Hapgood
3. Undecidable Chesterton: Being and the City,l£ž