Description
Book SynopsisThis book links the concepts of patriotism, Christianity, and nationhood in the journalistic writings of G.K. Chesterton and emphasizes their roots within the English attachments that were central to his political and spiritual persona. It further connects Chesterton to the vibrant debate about English national identity in the early years of the twentieth century, which was instrumental in shaping not only his political convictions, but also his religious convictions. Christianity, Patriotism and Nationhood explores his changing conception of the English people from an early, menacing account of their revolutionary potential in the face of plutocracy to the more complex portraits he drew of their character on recognizing their political passivity after the First World War. As Chesterton was above all a journalist, the study considers some of the varied outlets in which he expressed his ideas as a distinctly Edwardian man of letters of a strongly patriotic persuasion. His connection wi
Trade ReviewThis is a splendid, detailed, well-balanced and intelligent account of G.K.Chesterton's defense of ancient English ideals and loyalties, against imperialism, futurism and social Darwinism, and of the English people against plutocracy. Dr. Stapleton has done much to help restore Chesterton to his proper place as a well-informed and witty political philosopher. -- Stephen R.L.Clark, University of Liverpool
Julia Stapleton's well-researched, insightful study is a significant contribution to Chesterton criticism and to British intellectual history. Her substantive and stimulating analysis sparks fresh understandings of the relationship between Chesterton's faith and his politics, and of constructions of British national identity in the early twentienth century. This pioneering integration of hitherto parallel discourses is a great service to scholars of modern British thought and culture; it deserves a wide and appreciative audience. -- Adam Schwartz, author of The Third Spring: G. K. Chesterton, Graham Greene, Christopher Dawson, and David Jones
This is an intriguing and interesting study of one of the more intriguing men of letters of the early twentieth century. * ELT Journal *
Table of ContentsChapter 1 Introduction Chapter 2 Chapter 1: Creeds and Identities Chapter 3 Chapter 2: Liberal Journalism and the Patriotic Cosmos Chapter 4 Chapter 3: The Insularity of English Art, Ethics, Politics, and Thought: Chesterton's Critique of theFin de Siècle Chapter 5 Chapter 4: Liberalism, Democracy, and the English Nation Chapter 6 Chapter 5: The Dissident Liberal Chapter 7 Chapter 6: Authenticity, the English, and the Jews Chapter 8 Chapter 7: Prussianism, Teutonism, and the Literary War Chapter 9 Chapter 8: History versus Historians in the First World War Chapter 10 Chapter 9: Nationalism, Internationalism, and the English Past after 1918 Chapter 11 Conclusion
