Twelve Types

This collection of biographical essays by G. K. Chesterton gives a one-of-a-kind insight into some of the most influential figures of the 20th century.

Chesterton lends his prolific wit to these extremely unique and personal biographies, capturing a perfect snapshot of British society in the 1900s.

‘Twelve Types’ covers the life and works of Charlotte Bronte, Alexander Pope, Lord Byron, Robert Louis Stevenson, William Morris, Saint Francis, Edmond Rostand, Charles II, Thomas Carlyle, Savonarola, and Leo Tolstoy.

A pastiche of the Victorian society and artists that would birth the Romantic and Gothic movements in English literature, ‘Twelve Types’ is an unmissable collection for any student of 20th century Britain.





Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874 – 1936) was an English writer, journalist, philosopher, and literary critic. An unparalleled essayist, he produced over four thousand essays during his lifetime, alongside eighty novels and two hundred short stories.

Tackling topics of politics, history, philosophy, and theology with tenacious wit and humour, G. K. Chesterton was often considered a master of the paradox. Himself both a modernist and devout Catholic, he is remembered best for his priest-detective short stories ‘Father Brown’, and his metaphysical thriller ‘The Man Who Was Thursday’.

In his lifetime, Chesterton befriended and debated some of the greatest thinkers of the age, such as George Bernard Shore, H. G. Wells, and Bertrand Russell, while his works went on to inspire figures including T. S. Eliot, Michael Collins, and Mahatma Gandhi.