Maisie Ward's biography of Gilbert Keith Chesterton has long been a cornerstone in Chesterton studies, as well as in the publishing house she and her husband, Frank Sheed, founded in 1926. Originally published in 1942, just six years after Chesterton's untimely death, this book combines Ward's unique perspective as the author's friend and publisher with an examination of his personal correspondence and interviews with his closest friends and family. Here are Chesterton's childhood and school days, the friendship and foolery of youth, his early theological development, high-spirited love letters, the variety and richness of his travel and life abroad, his lectures, his writings, and his indomitable spirit. A Sheed & Ward Classic, this rerelease of Ward's definitive biography is sure to delight existing "Chestertonians" and introduce a new generation to one of Catholicism's brightest lights.