Order of Book Series
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G.K. Chesterton Books in Order

114 books are credited to G.K. Chesterton, published between 1901 and 2023; 60 of them appeared after G.K. Chesterton's death in 1936. The first book is The Defendant (1901) and the newest is Alarms and Discursions (2023). Publication order is the reading order below.

Books
114
Published
1901–2023
Confirmed
1 of 114 titles
Pages on record
11,609 in 61 of 114 books
Reading time
193–290 hours

Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 11,609 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 61 of 114 titles with a page count on record.

See all 114 books in order Printable G.K. Chesterton checklist
Photo of G.K. Chesterton, author

G.K. Chesterton (Gilbert Keith Chesterton, 29 May 1874 to 14 June 1936) was an English writer of Christian apologetics, noted for wit, paradox and a defence of tradition. Chesterton created the priest-detective Father Brown and wrote the apologetic works Orthodoxy and The Everlasting Man. Chesterton converted from Anglicanism to Catholicism. The catalogue lists 114 books, opening with The Defendant (1901) and Robert Louis Stevenson and Thomas Carlyle (1902), and including The Napoleon of Notting Hill (1904), Heretics (1905) and The Club of Queer Trades (1905). Biographers place Chesterton as a successor to Matthew Arnold, Thomas Carlyle, John Henry Newman and John Ruskin.

How many G.K. Chesterton books are there?

G.K. Chesterton has 114 books, released between 1901 and 2023. 60 of them were published after G.K. Chesterton's death in 1936. They include 2 series and 63 titles listed outside any series.

G.K. Chesterton Books in Publication Order

The table lists all 114 G.K. Chesterton books in the order they were published, with the release year, the page count where one is on record, and how many independent book listings confirm each title. Catalogue data as of September 2026.

  1. Cover of Thomas Carlyle by G.K. Chesterton, book 2 of the Chesterton's Biographies Non-Fiction series (1902)
  2. Cover of The Club of Queer Trades by G.K. Chesterton (1905)
  3. Cover of Charles Dickens by G.K. Chesterton, book 6 of the Chesterton's Biographies Non-Fiction series (1906)
  4. Cover of On Tremendous Trifles by G.K. Chesterton (1909)
  5. Cover of William Blake by G.K. Chesterton, book 7 of the Chesterton's Biographies Non-Fiction series (1909)
  6. Cover of The Ballad of the White Horse by G.K. Chesterton (1911)
  7. Cover of The Queer Feet by G.K. Chesterton (1911)
  8. Cover of The Incredulity of Father Brown by G.K. Chesterton, book 3 of the Father Brown series (1923)
  9. Cover of Father Brown Stories by G.K. Chesterton, book 1 of the Father Brown series (1927)
  10. Cover of The Secret of Father Brown by G.K. Chesterton, book 4 of the Father Brown series (1927)
  11. Cover of The Poet and the Lunatics by G.K. Chesterton (1929)
  12. Cover of Favorite Father Brown Stories by G.K. Chesterton, book 2 of the Father Brown series (1935)
  13. Cover of The Best of Father Brown by G.K. Chesterton, book 4 of the Father Brown series (1935)
  14. Cover of The Scandal of Father Brown by G.K. Chesterton, book 5 of the Father Brown series (1935)
  15. Cover of Father Brown: A Selection by G.K. Chesterton, book 6 of the Father Brown series (1935)
  16. Cover of George Bernard Shaw by G.K. Chesterton, book 10 of the Chesterton's Biographies Non-Fiction series (1935)
  17. Cover of The Autobiography of G.K. Chesterton by G.K. Chesterton, book 1 of the Collected Works of G. K. Chesterton series
  18. Cover of Collected Works of G.K. Chesterton by G.K. Chesterton, book 2 of the Collected Works of G. K. Chesterton series
  19. Cover of Father Brown of the Church of Rome by G.K. Chesterton, book 7 of the Father Brown series (1936)
  20. Cover of Stories, Essays and Poems by G.K. Chesterton (1936)
  21. Cover of The Collected Poems of G. K. Chesterton by G.K. Chesterton (1980)
  22. Cover of The Collected Works of G.K. Chesterton Volume 01 by G.K. Chesterton (1986)
  23. Cover of The Collected Works of G.K. Chesterton Volume 02 by G.K. Chesterton (1986)
  24. Cover of The Collected Works of G.K. Chesterton Volume 04 by G.K. Chesterton (1987)
  1. 1
    The Defendant1901 · confirmed 2/4
    1901–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  2. 2
    Robert Louis StevensonChesterton's Biographies Non-Fiction #11902 · 90 pages · confirmed 2/4
    190290
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  3. 3
    Thomas CarlyleChesterton's Biographies Non-Fiction #21902 · 40 pages · confirmed 2/4
    190240
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  4. 4
    TennysonChesterton's Biographies Non-Fiction #31903 · confirmed 2/4
    1903–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  5. 5
    ThackerayChesterton's Biographies Non-Fiction #41903 · confirmed 2/4
    1903–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  6. 6
    The Napoleon of Notting Hill1904 · confirmed 2/4
    1904–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  7. 7
    G.F. WattsChesterton's Biographies Non-Fiction #51904 · confirmed 2/4
    1904–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  8. 8
    Biography for BeginnersE.C. Bentley #11905 · confirmed 2/4
    1905–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  9. 9
    Heretics1905 · confirmed 2/4
    1905–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  10. 10
    The Club of Queer Trades1905 · 96 pages · confirmed 2/4
    190596
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  11. 11
    Charles DickensChesterton's Biographies Non-Fiction #61906 · 144 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1906144
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  12. 12
    Orthodoxy1908 · confirmed 2/4
    1908–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  13. 13
    The Man Who Was Thursday1908 · confirmed 2/4
    1908–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  14. 14
    On Tremendous Trifles1909 · 112 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1909112
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  15. 15
    The Ball and the Cross1909 · confirmed 2/4
    1909–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  16. 16
    William BlakeChesterton's Biographies Non-Fiction #71909 · 58 pages · confirmed 2/4
    190958
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  17. 17
    The Blue Cross1910 · confirmed 2/4
    1910–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  18. 18
    Lepanto1911 · confirmed 2/4
    1911–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  19. 19
    The Innocence of Father BrownFather Brown #11911 · 178 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1911178
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  20. 20
    The Ballad of the White Horse1911 · 231 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1911231
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  21. 21
    The Invisible Man1911 · confirmed 2/4
    1911–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  22. 22
    The Queer Feet1911 · 150 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1911150
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  23. 23
    Manalive1912 · confirmed 2/4
    1912–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  24. 24
    The Wisdom of Father BrownFather Brown #21914 · confirmed 2/4
    1914–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  25. 25
    The Wild Knight and Other Poems1914 · confirmed 2/4
    1914–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  26. 26
    The Flying Inn1914 · confirmed 2/4
    1914–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  27. 27
    The Crimes of England1915 · confirmed 2/4
    1915–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  28. 28
    Wine, Water, and Song1915 · 26 pages · confirmed 2/4
    191526
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  29. 29
    A Short History of England1917 · confirmed 2/4
    1917–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  30. 30
    The Man Who Knew Too Much1922 · confirmed 2/4
    1922–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK

G.K. Chesterton series in order

The series linked below has its own reading-order page.

G.K. Chesterton books grouped by series

Each title below is a row in the publication-order table above. None of these groups has a reading-order page of its own on this site.

Collected Works of G. K. Chesterton in order

19 books
  1. 1. The Autobiography of G.K. Chesterton
  2. 2. Collected Works of G.K. Chesterton
  3. 3. The Collected Works of G.K. Chesterton Volume 01
  4. 4. The Collected Works of G.K. Chesterton Volume 02
  5. 5. The Collected Works of G.K. Chesterton Volume 04
  6. 6. The Collected Works of G.K. Chesterton Volume 28
  7. 7. The Collected Works of G.K. Chesterton Volume 05
  8. 8. The Collected Works of G.K. Chesterton Volume 15
  9. 9. The Collected Works of G.K. Chesterton Volume 11
  10. 10. The Collected Works of G.K. Chesterton Volume 31
  11. 11. The Collected Works of G.K. Chesterton Volume 21
  12. 12. The Collected Works of G.K. Chesterton Volume 03
  13. and 7 more in the table above

Chesterton's Biographies Non-Fiction

14 books

14 titles published under this heading without a numbered place in a series.

Standalone Plays

3 books

3 titles published under this heading without a numbered place in a series.

E.C. Bentley in order

2 books
  1. 1. Biography for Beginners
  2. 4. The Complete Clerihews of E. Clerihew Bentley

MIT Press/Radium Age in order

1 book
  1. 11. The Napoleon of Notting Hill

Standalone books

63 books

63 G.K. Chesterton titles here are not listed as part of any series.

Do you have to read G.K. Chesterton books in order?

You only need to read G.K. Chesterton books in order within each series: the books listed here span 2 separate series, and each series has its own publication order.

Where to start with G.K. Chesterton

Start with The Innocence of Father Brown (1911), the first Father Brown book. The earliest catalogued title overall is The Defendant (1901).

What is the newest G.K. Chesterton book?

Alarms and Discursions (2023) is the newest G.K. Chesterton book released so far.

Is there a new G.K. Chesterton book coming?

No next G.K. Chesterton book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.

Award nominations for G.K. Chesterton

Wikidata records 1 nomination for G.K. Chesterton. Each row states whether the title won or was shortlisted, and the year the award was given.

  • Nobel Prize in Literature1935Shortlisted

G.K. Chesterton at a glance

Died
G.K. Chesterton died in 1936, according to Wikidata.
After death
Books credited to G.K. Chesterton are still being published after G.K. Chesterton's death in 1936; the newest appeared in 2023.
Release pace
G.K. Chesterton books have appeared about one a year on average.
Length
11,609 pages across the 61 of 114 books with a recorded length, a median of 150 pages each.
Busiest decade
Most G.K. Chesterton books, 18 of 114, were published in the 2010s.

What the G.K. Chesterton books are about

63 of the 114 G.K. Chesterton books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: mystery & detective is tagged on 14 of 63. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.

  • Mystery & detective 14 of 63 books
  • English literature 14 of 63 books
  • Collected works (single author, multi-form) 12 of 63 books
  • History and criticism 11 of 63 books
  • Biography 10 of 63 books
  • Catholic literature (collections) 10 of 63 books
  • Edition 10 of 63 books
  • Modern Philosophy 10 of 63 books
  • Social problems 10 of 63 books
  • Poetry 8 of 63 books
  • Brown, father (fictitious character) 7 of 63 books
  • Clergy 7 of 63 books