This classic volume is the second part of a definitive biography of the great English writer, Charles Dickens, by another fine English author, his friend and colleague, G. K. Chesterton.

This book may not be, Chesterton says, important as a contribution to history, but it is important as a contribution to biography; as a contribution to the character and the career of the man who wrote it, a typical man of his time. That Dickens made no personal historical researches, that he had no special historical learning, that he had not had, in truth, even anything that could be called a good education, all this accentuates not the merit but at least the importance of the book. For here, thinks Mr. Chesterton, may be read in plain popular language, written by a man whose genius for popular exposition has never been surpassed among men, a brief account of the origin and meaning of England as it seemed to the average Englishman of that age. This book will always remain as a bright and brisk summary of the cock-sure, healthy-minded, essentially manly and essentially ungentlemanly view of history which characterises the Radicals of that particular Radical era.

Charles Dickens's 200th birthday will be celebrated in 2012. Though his writings are now more than 100 years old, many remain in print and are avidly read and studied. Often overlooked--or unknown--are the considerable Christian convictions Dickens held and displayed in his work. This book fills that vacuum by examining Dickens the Christian and showing how Christian beliefs and practices permeate his work. This historical work is written for pastors, students, and laity alike. Chapters look at Dickens's life and work topically, arguing that Christian faith was front and center in some of what Dickens wrote (such as his children's work The Life of Our Lord) and saliently implicit throughout various other characters and plots. Since Dickens's Christian side is rarely considered, Gary Colledge illuminates a fresh angle of Dickens, and the 200th birthday makes it especially timely.

This is a critical study of the great British man of letters G.K. Chesterton, devoted to the novels, stories and essays that explore the darker fringes of his wild imagination. "Everything is different in the dark," wrote Chesterton; "perhaps you don't know how terrible a truth that is." Chesterton's use of the theme of "gargoyles" provides the thematic structure of the book. It covers the detective stories of Father Brown and others, the locked rooms and miracle crimes in his writing, his status as a science fiction writer, and the riddles and paradoxes of three works--Job, The Man Who Was Thursday, and the play The Surprise. This volume also includes an interlude about Chesterton and Jorge Luis Borges and a robust appendix including interviews about the formation of Ignatius Press's Collected Chesterton.

G.K. Chesterton was a master essayist. But reading his essays is not just an exercise in studying a literary form at its finest, it is an encounter with timeless truths that jump off the page as fresh and powerful as the day they were written. The only problem with Chesterton's essays is that there are too many of them. Over five thousand! For most GKC readers it is not even possible to know where to start or how to begin to approach them. So three of the world's leading authorities on Chesterton - Dale Ahlquist, Joseph Pearce, Aidan Mackey - have joined together to select the "best" Chesterton essays, a collection that will be appreciated by both the newcomer and the seasoned student of this great 20th century man of letters. The variety of topics are astounding: barbarians, architects, mystics, ghosts, fireworks, rain, juries, gargoyles and much more. Plus a look at Shakespeare, Dickens, Jane Austen, George MacDonald, T.S. Eliot, and the Bible. All in that inimitable, formidable but always quotable style of GKC. Even more astounding than the variety is the continuity of Chesterton's thought that ties everything together. A veritable feast for the mind and heart. While some of the essays in this volume may be familiar, many of them are collected here for the first time, making their first appearance in over a century.

You may be aware that G. K. Chesterton authored influential Christian biographies and apologetics. But you may not know the larger-than-life Gilbert Keith Chesterton himself—not yet. Equally versed in poetry, novels, literary criticism, and journalism, he addressed politics, culture, and religion with a towering intellect and a soaring wit. Chesterton engaged his world through the written word. He carried on lively, public discussions with the social commentators of his day, continually challenging them with civility, humility, erudition, and his ever-sharp sense of humor. Today’s reader can find the same treasures, for as Chesterton said, “What a man can believe depends upon his philosophy, not upon the clock or the century.” In Kevin Belmonte’s fresh new biography, you’ll get to know the real G. K. Chesterton and his literary and cultured accomplishments. A giant of his time, Chesterton continues to live large in the imaginations of twenty-first-century readers. Endorsements: “Chesterton’s explanation of Christianity makes absolute sense of the world. He reminds us that, free of our comforting delusions, reality is a tragic adventure in which we get to participate.” —DONALD MILLER, author of the New York Times bestsellers A Million Miles in a Thousand Years and Blue Like Jazz “Bravo to Kevin Belmonte for turning his caring attention to the incomparably hilarious and brilliant genius that is G.K. Chesterton!” —ERIC METAXAS, New York Times best-selling author of Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy and Amazing Grace: William Wilberforce and the Heroic Campaign to End Slavery “There’s a great new biography about one of the Christian giants of the 20th Century. And I mean that literally. To read Kevin Belmonte's recent book Defiant Joy: The Remarkable Life & Impact of G. K. Chesterton, is to feel a powerful sense of longing . . . because there is such a longing, a great need for advocates like Chesterton in our day. . . . But let's be grateful we still have the works of that great man to study and learn from. . . And we also have for you have Belmonte's vibrant new biography -- a wonderful reminder of the magnificent example Chesterton has set for us.”—CHUCK COLSON(http://patriotpost.us/opinion/chuck-colson/2012/01/26/defiant-joy-why-we-still-need-chesterton/)

Presents a series of articles examining the life and works of the English author Charles Dickens, discussing the themes and characters in his many novels, including "Oliver Twist," "David Copperfield," and "A Christmas Carol."