The Napoleon of Notting Hill

by G. K. Chesterton

Overview

London, 1984. England has given up on democracy and selects its rulers by lottery. This time it is the turn of clerk Auberon Quin, a prankster who decrees that each borough of London become an independent mediaeval state, complete with costumes and coats of arms. The citizens bear his joke with varying levels of patience – until Adam Wayne, the intractable Provost of Notting Hill, sword in hand, takes the game far too seriously.

First published in 1904, G. K. Chesterton's deliriously eccentric debut novel is a wild, topsy-turvy satire on a land ruled by fools.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781802065862
Publisher:	Penguin UK
Publication date:	07/04/2024
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	192
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

G.K. Chesterton (1874-1936) was an artist, philosopher, columnist, arts critic and prolific writer. A very large man of 6'4" and 21 stone, Chesterton also had a 'colossal genius' according to his friend George Bernard Shaw - and his work, particularly The Man Who Was Thursday and the Father Brown stories, has had an astounding impact on English fiction. Chesterton died of heart failure in his home in 1936, and was given a Requiem Mass in Westminster Cathedral.

Table of Contents

Series Foreword ix
Introduction: Dystopias Are Problems Plus Time xv
Madeline Ashby

Book I
I Introductory Remarks on the Art of Prophecy 3
II The Man in Green 9
III The Hill of Humor 31

Book II
I The Charter of the Cities 43
II The Council of the Provosts 55
III Enter a Lunatic 69

Book III
I The Mental Condition of Adam Wayne 87
II The Remarkable Mr. Turnbull 103
III The Experiment of Mr. Buck 115

Book IV
I The Battle of the Lamps 135
II The Correspondent of the "Court Journal" 151
III The Great Army of South Kensington 163

Book V
I The Empire of Notting Hill 189
II The Last Battle 205
III Two Voices 215

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“Whimsically expressed criticism… with a suspicion of gallimaufry and hints of the cap-and-bells here and there.”
—New York Times (1904)

“As irresponsibly ludicrous as a modern burlesque, as quaintly serious, at last, as a medieval morality.”
—The Bookman (May 1904)

Editorial Reviews

"Unquestionably a satirical masterpiece."
—Los Angeles Review of Books

“A strange social satire. . . . [and] a fascinating study of arrogance and folly, of progress and tradition and, oddly, of human nature itself.”
—Fortean Times

From the Publisher