What had seemed a dull and formless expanse of history is made to shine with contemporary significance, and contemporary details are made to bristle with meaning. It is a great labour of synthesis and reconstruction in which Mr. Chesterton has been engaged. He has fixed his attention on the present and the past, because he is concerned lest our future steps be blindly mistaken. And a strong and growing group of like-minded writers indicates the impression he has made upon his generation.