Barnes & Noble Digital Library

"What is America?" Chesterton asks in the opening chapter of this perceptive and high-spirited book, originally published in 1922. In due course, he meditates on the nature of the American hotel, the Broadway theater, and the American businessman. He also touches upon politics, cities, fads, and public opinion, as well as giving an early take on the Prohibition experiment. Finally, he speculates on the future of democracy, compares the spirit of America to that of England, and asks "Is the Atlantic Narrowing?"