George Bernard Shaw called him a colossal genius. Pope Pius XI called him a devoted son of the Holy Church and a gifted defender of the faith. A dominant figure in English letters during the first third of this century, G.K. Chesterton was a prolific writer whose great range of personal interest and intellectual involvement makes his writings of almost universal appeal. Though he produced nearly 100 books in his lifetime, Chesterton considered himself primarily a journalist, writing articles for 75 different British periodicals and for about 50 different American magazines. His huge literary...