IN HONOR OF THE 250TH BIRTHDAY of the United States, ACS Books is pleased to present this special edition of Chesterton’s What I Saw in America. The volume features commentary by that inimitable crew of talking heads known as the Troubadours: Dale Ahlquist, Joseph Pearce, Daniel Kerr, Christopher Check, and William Fahey. Also included is an additional essay and selected quotations by Chesterton on his impressions of America, and a brief account of his second visit in 1930-31.
IN JANUARY OF 1921, the celebrated English author G.K. Chesterton arrived in New York City to begin a four month lecture tour of the United States. He and his wife Frances were surprised to be mobbed by newspaper reporters and pumped with questions. He told the press that he had come to lose his impressions of America – and he promised not to write a book about his trip. He gave speeches in dozens of cities, including a few in Canada, and his appearances were front page news wherever he went. Upon returning to England, he promptly broke his earlier promise and penned this book, which is filled with the Englishman’s perspective on American cities and towns and history and politics and commerce and literature and philosophy. He marvels at skyscrapers and endless prairies, but much more at the odd and incongruous attraction of the American people to hustle and entertainment, to parties and prohibition. Chesterton’s great wit and incisive observations are on display throughout this volume, but also his sometimes somber prophetic vision which still rings true today.
