The Napoleon of Notting Hill & The Man Who Was Thursday

Known primarily for his non-fiction, G. K. Chesterton also wrote fiction. The Napoleon of Notting Hill and The Man Who was Thursday are two of his best-loved novels.

The Napoleon of Notting Hill

In Chesterton’s first novel, he conjures up a London neighborhood that has become an independent city, fond of pageantry and traditional ways, isolated by high walls from the rest of the world. When its rights and autonomy are threatened by modernizing neighbors, war breaks out. It is a war fought not with astounding new weapons, but with swords and battle-axes, and it is waged for a cause in which the author deeply believed.

The Man Who was Thursday

In Chesterton’s most famous novel, Detective Syme is determined to discover everything about a club of anarchists, so he decides to infiltrate the resistance group and then he unwittingly, and unwillingly, gets caught up suddenly and finds himself elected to their council!