{"product_id":"the-defendant-g-k-chesterton-9781763565654","title":"The Defendant","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn 1901, with only two poetry volumes to his name, G.K. Chesterton was very much in the up-and-coming bracket among writers. But he had already built a reputation for brilliant wit, original incisiveness, and a love of paradox in many essays published in journals.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA group of these had a common theme: they were defences, discussing things which society, to his mind, dismissed unfairly or, at the very best, undervalued. Lifting sixteen of them from the pages of \u003cem\u003eThe Speaker\u003c\/em\u003e, he compiled his very first book of prose.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn \u003cem\u003eA Defence of Rash Vows\u003c\/em\u003e he despises the limitations imposed by mealy-mouthed cowardice; in \u003cem\u003eA Defence of Skeletons\u003c\/em\u003e he revels in essential coarseness; in \u003cem\u003eA Defence of Nonsense\u003c\/em\u003e he insists that childlike wonder requires preservation in our culture; in \u003cem\u003eA Defence of Heraldry\u003c\/em\u003e he frowns upon the lowest common denominations which modern democracy espouses; in \u003cem\u003eA Defence of Ugly Things\u003c\/em\u003e he celebrates nature's unashamed exuberance; in \u003cem\u003eA Defence of Humility\u003c\/em\u003e he similarly supports the beauty of the commonplace; and in \u003cem\u003eA Defence of Patriotism\u003c\/em\u003e he bemoans the vulgarity which has usurped the true patriot's necessary sensitivity.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThese short essays, and the nine others in this book, illustrate a mind whose original political and social insight, and piercing critical instincts, though they were sometimes led astray by his irascibility, cut through dogma and convention to an extraordinary degree.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e G. K. Chesterton\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1763565653\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781763565654\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Michael Walmer\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 02\/25\/2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 180\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.40lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.00h x 5.00w x 0.41d","brand":"G. K. Chesterton","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":47201158627583,"sku":"9781763565654","price":13.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_b48d359b-d032-4295-883d-2e5aa74b7228.jpg?v=1756789051","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/the-defendant-g-k-chesterton-9781763565654","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}