The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare (Penguin Classics)

'We dig deeper and we blow you higher. We wish to deny all those arbitrary distinctions of vice and virtue, honour and treachery, upon which mere rebels base themselves'

The Central Anarchist Council is a secret society sworn to destroy the world. The council is governed by seven men, who hide their identities behind the names of the days of the week. Yet one of their number - Thursday - is not the revolutionary he claims to be, but a Scotland Yard detective. And, the question soon becomes, who and what are the others? G.K. Chesterton unravels this unique fantasy in his own inventive and exuberant way, and uses this nightmare of paradox and surprise to probe the mysteries of human behaviour and belief.

Matthew Beaumont's introduction examines the book's themes of identity and confrontation, and explores its intriguing title. This edition also contains a chronology, notes and suggested further reading.