Books with author Gilbert Keith Chesterton

The Man Who Knew Too Much by Gilbert Keith ChestertonHow is this book unique?Tablet and e-reader formattedOriginal & Unabridged EditionAuthor Biography includedIllustrated versionThe Man Who Knew Too Much is a compilation of eight detective stories by the English philosopher and prolific writer Gilbert Keith Chesterton. The protagonist of these stories is the man of the title, Horne Fisher, an upper-class detective whose investigative gifts often put him in uncomfortable situations where he has to take difficult decisions. In stories like “The Face in the Target” and “The Vengeance of the Statue,” which are all told by a third-person narrator, Fisher uses his deductive faculties and theatrical representations to absolve the innocent and incriminate the guilty. Most of the crimes dealt with in these stories are about mysterious murders. Yet, Fisher has also to solve other cases related to theft as well as to disputes over money and estates. Due to his friendly or family relationships with influential statesmen, Fisher often finds himself with “too much” knowledge about the way things are run in the country. This paradoxically valuable and embarrassing knowledge forces him many a time to let the murderer get away with his crime in order to avoid something more dangerous to happen to the country such as war or rebellion.

This contains the first 8 of the 12 stories in the published book The Man Who Knew Too Much and Other Stories. In these 8 detective thrillers, the main protagonist is Horne Fisher. (The omitted four are individual stories with separate heroes/detectives.)Due to close relationships with the leading political figures in the land, Fisher knows too much about the private politics behind the public politics of the day. This knowledge is a burden to him because he is able to uncover the injustices and corruptions of the murders in each story, but in most cases the real killer gets away with the killing because to bring him openly to justice would create a greater chaos: starting a war, reinciting Irish rebellions, or removing public faith in the government.A film of the same title was made in 1934 and remade in 1956, both directed by Alfred Hitchcock, but the films had nothing at all in common (except the title) with these short stories. Hitchcock decided to use the title simply because he had the rights for some of the stories.

This contains the first 8 of the 12 stories in the published book The Man Who Knew Too Much and Other Stories. In these 8 detective thrillers, the main protagonist is Horne Fisher. (The omitted four are individual stories with separate heroes/detectives.)Due to close relationships with the leading political figures in the land, Fisher knows too much about the private politics behind the public politics of the day. This knowledge is a burden to him because he is able to uncover the injustices and corruptions of the murders in each story, but in most cases the real killer gets away with the killing because to bring him openly to justice would create a greater chaos: starting a war, reinciting Irish rebellions, or removing public faith in the government.A film of the same title was made in 1934 and remade in 1956, both directed by Alfred Hitchcock, but the films had nothing at all in common (except the title) with these short stories. Hitchcock decided to use the title simply because he had the rights for some of the stories.

The Man Who Knew Too Much by Gilbert Keith ChestertonHow is this book unique?Tablet and e-reader formattedOriginal & Unabridged EditionAuthor Biography includedIllustrated versionThe Man Who Knew Too Much is a compilation of eight detective stories by the English philosopher and prolific writer Gilbert Keith Chesterton. The protagonist of these stories is the man of the title, Horne Fisher, an upper-class detective whose investigative gifts often put him in uncomfortable situations where he has to take difficult decisions. In stories like “The Face in the Target” and “The Vengeance of the Statue,” which are all told by a third-person narrator, Fisher uses his deductive faculties and theatrical representations to absolve the innocent and incriminate the guilty. Most of the crimes dealt with in these stories are about mysterious murders. Yet, Fisher has also to solve other cases related to theft as well as to disputes over money and estates. Due to his friendly or family relationships with influential statesmen, Fisher often finds himself with “too much” knowledge about the way things are run in the country. This paradoxically valuable and embarrassing knowledge forces him many a time to let the murderer get away with his crime in order to avoid something more dangerous to happen to the country such as war or rebellion.