St. Francis of Assisi

By: G. K. Chesterton

Narrated by: Simon Vance

Saint Francis of Assisi is one of the most influential men in the whole of human history. This acclaimed biography of Saint Francis examines the life of a pure artist, a man "whose whole life was a poem". Here is the Saint Francis who prayed and danced with pagan abandon, who talked to animals, and who invented the crèche. Yet Francis also acknowledged the mystic responsibility to communicate his divine experience. Chesterton examines the existence of the pure eccentric and the devout mystic in one man, offering an understanding of Saint Francis in both body and soul. It has been said that G. K. Chesterton converted to Catholicism in 1922 because "only the Roman Church could have produced a Saint Francis of Assisi".

This biography, published shortly after Chesterton's conversion, is universally considered the best appreciation of Francis' life, one that gets to the heart of the matter.

©1923 Gilbert Keith Chesterton. © renewed 1951 by Oliver Chesterton (P)2016 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Simon Vance reads a remarkable work remarkably

Vance's has been the voice in my head when I read Chesterton this whole time. Glad to put a name to it. Obviously, Chesterton's biography of St Francis is impossible to overrate. The reading on this is equal to it. I can't recall a misplaced syllable.

Wow! what a performance of exceptional material!

this is heady stuff, written by a language master... I have already listened twice and will do so again. I feel certain I will learn more every time. Great subject .. St. Francis... Great author. Great performance!!

A devotion to and defense of St. Francis

Neither biography or historical fiction, Chesterton's long essay is a rationalization of his love of Francis.
Rationalization implies a logical subject. Why rationalize a Saint? Either you believe or you don't. You're in or you're out.
The sound of GK Chesterton reassuring himself and other Catholics.

Thought Provoking

This gave me a different perspective on a wee bit of history. Funny what you take for granted until it is spelled out!

Interesting polemic on Saint Francis of a CC

This was an interesting polemic on Saint Francis of Assisi by GK Chesterton, and it was a bit dated, but the narrator the narration were excellent. You learned more about the idea of the man in the Saint that you do the actual man in terms of a traditional biography, but it was interesting nonetheless.