I read this book as a young man and not only did it introduce me to the amazing world of Chesterton, but it was a revelation of how an entire culture could be captured in a slim volume.

Here is the Francis who prayed and danced with pagan abandon, who talked to animals, who invented the creche. Chesterton, known as the Prince of Paradox. Told in a remarkably astute, nuanced, optimistic, uplifting biography by G. Francis is a mysterious figure and a man of paradox. Francis is one of the most venerated religious figures in history. Here is the Francis who inspired a revolution in art that began with Giotto and a revolution in poetry that began with Dante. A dazzling and uplifting biography of the great Saint Francis of Assisi who gained the world by giving up worldly goods to be be independent of all. Saint Francis of Assisi founded the mens Order of Friars Minor, the womens Order of Saint Clare, the Third Order of Saint Francis and the Custody of the Holy Land. Here is the Francis who tried to end the Crusades by talking to the Saracens, and who interceded with the emperor on behalf of the birds. Chesterton gives us Francis in his world-the riotously colorful world of the High Middle Ages, a world with more pageantry and romance than we have seen before or since. Chesterton on Francis, you get two glories for one: first is an enlightening study of this most beloved of Christian saints and second is Chesterton himself, one of the great Christian writers of the 20th century, who converted to Roman. For Chesterton, Francis of Assisi is a great paradoxical figure, a man who loved women but vowed himself to chastity an artist who loved the pleasures of the natural world as few have loved them, but vowed himself to the most austere poverty, stripping himself naked in the public square so all could see that he had renounced his worldly goods a clown who stood on his head in order to see the world aright. Publication date 1923 Usage Public Domain Topics Francis, of Assisi, Saint, 1182-1226. There are certainly many studies of Saint Francis of Assisi that an interested reader might find and many of them immensely praiseworthy.

Gk chesterton francis of assisi