DWD's Reviews

A great introduction to a terrifically important writer For most people, including this reviewer, C.S. Lewis was the gateway to G.K. Chesterton. Lewis, of course, is famous for being THE Christian apologist for his generation - a man who did not believe but then, after his conversion, was able to voice the thoughts and beliefs for millions with such landmark books as Mere Christianity . When I found out that it was the writings of G.K. Chesterton that helped to convert Lewis I had to start to looking into Chesterton (fortunately I have a Kindle - they have more than 2 dozen Chesterton books and essays for free, so I was able to get my feet wet in the ocean of writing that Chesterton produced without any worries). That being said, I am a relative newbie to Chesterton so this biography was a welcome addition to my on again off again studies of the man. Rather than give a blow by blow book report of this biography, I'll outline its general strengths and weaknesses. Strengths

Written in 1910, still relevant a century later. G.K. Chesterton's What's Wrong With the World is not a bit of light reading. There are heady thoughts throughout and the reader is invited to do some of the heavy lifting as well. I don't agree with all of Chesterton's conclusions either but he does have a wonderful way with words. Have you ever had an argument with someone in which you thoroughly disagreed with some of their points but admired the way they laid them out and their turns of the phrase? That is my experience with G.K. Chesterton in a nutshell. I only picked up this volume because I read somewhere that C.S. Lewis was a devoted fan of Chesterton. G.K. Chesterton Be prepared, there is no one thing that is wrong with the world - it is a collection of things. Of course, any thinking person knows that there are always a collection of problems that are inter-related and cause all sorts of things to be wrong in the world. Chesterton is strongly pro-C

G.K. Chesterton's The Barbarism of Berlin is a lengthy essay (442 kindle "locations" or about 33 pages) defending the decision by the U.K. to join World War I and fight the Central Powers, Germany in particular. It is a testament to Chesterton's powerful skills as a writer that I found myself agreeing with him so much because I've typically found World War I to have been one of the most extraordinary wastes of lives in the long history of a world that regularly wastes lives.  Note that I do not agree with Chesterton's final conclusion (the war was a worthwhile investment of time, energy and lives) but he does make compelling arguments and the essay is worth reading just to have them so well laid out in front of you. G.K. Chesterton Chesterton makes a compelling argument that Germany's outlook on the world is different than France's and England's and that these competing worldviews are bound to confront. Eventually, one will win out - th