G. K. Chesterton

The Flying Inn is a novel first published in 1914 by G. K. Chesterton. It is set in a future England where the Temperance movement has allowed a bizarre form of "Progressive" Islam to dominate the political and social life of the country. Because of this, alcohol sales to the poor are effectively prohibited, while the rich can get alcoholic drinks "under a medical certificate". The plot centres on the adventures of Humphrey Pump and Captain Patrick Dalroy, who roam the country in their cart with a barrel of rum in an attempt to evade Prohibition, exploiting loopholes in the law to temporarily prevent the police taking action against them. Eventually the heroes and their followers foil an attempted coup by an Islamic military force

Chesterton's "The Crimes Of England" was written in 1916 and needs to be read, and perhaps forgiven, as a product of the Great War. The "crimes" in the title are essentially an ironic reference. Most of the "crimes" Chesterton relate to the preceding three hundred years to instances where English policy was too pro-German, or at least, too pro-Prussian by Chesterton's estimate. The list of crimes include too much support for Frederick the Great and too little support for the French Revolution. Even the crime of England's brutal response to the Irish rebellions of 1789 - something Chesterton lets loose against - was made worse by the Germanic element in the royal family and the Army's use of German mercenaries against the Irish. Chesterton is sometimes accused of "Teutonophobia", this book must be "Exhibit A" in favour of that charge.

Father Brown is a short, stumpy Catholic priest, "formerly of Cobhole in Essex, and now working in London", with shapeless clothes and a large umbrella, and an uncanny insight into human evil. He makes his first appearance in the story "The Blue Cross" and continues through the five volumes of short stories, often assisted by the reformed criminal M. Hercule Flambeau. Father Brown also appears in a story "The Donnington Affair" that has a rather curious history. In the October 1914 issue of the obscure magazine The Premier, Sir Max Pemberton published the first part of the story, inviting a number of detective story writers, including Chesterton, to use their talents to solve the mystery of the murder described.