The Wisdom of Father Brown

British writer GILBERT KEITH CHESTERTON (1874-1936) expounded prolifically about his wide-ranging philosophies-he is impossible to categorize as liberal or conservative for instance-across a wide variety of avenues: he was a literary critic historian playwright novelist columnist and poet. His witty humorous style earned him the title of the prince of paradox and his works-80 books and nearly 4000 essays-remain among the most beloved in the English language Chesterton is best remembered perhaps as a spinner of mystery tales and for his recurring character of Father Brown. This 1914 collection of stories includes some of the crime-solving priests greatest cases: . The Absence of Mr. Glass . The Paradise of Thieves . The Duel of Dr. Hirsch . The Man in the Passage . The Mistake of the Machine . The Head of Caesar . The Purple Wig . The Perishing of the Pendragons . The God of the Gongs . The Salad of Colonel Gray . The Strange Crime of John Boulnois . The Fairy Tale of Father Brown