Progressive Islam takes over England, and two men go on the run with a barrel of rum and a wheel of cheese, intent on keeping English pub life alive. Packed with songs, satire, and style as only Chesteron could write.
"Perhaps prophetical more so than prosaic (and not at all in the sense Chesterton intended it) The Flying Inn is one of those books which should rank among the classics" - The Distributist Review
"Chesterton said that the book he most enjoyed writing was The Flying Inn. He enjoyed creating the comical scenes as much as the polemical ones, the drinking songs as much as the bitter satire and the hard-edged debate. As the hero of the novel says, “It’s as innocent as Heaven and as hot as hell.” The novel is a vehicle for Chesterton to tee off against corrupt and ineffectual politicians who had not merely lost touch with common citizens but were actively taking away their basic rights and freedoms. Besides politicians, he also makes room on his skewer for journalists, textual critics, health gurus, idiot socialists and capitalist toadies. [...] the drinking songs in The Flying Inn [are] "true Temperance songs: temperance is about moderation not abstinence. Self-restraint and self-control are acts of freedom. Prohibition is not. Though drinking may be a caprice [...] it is a caprice that cannot be forbidden to a citizen, but can be forbidden to a slave.”
And what are these drinking songs that came under such fire? Simply some of the dearest and most delightful poems that Chesterton or anyone else has ever written: The Song of Right and Wrong, The Song of the Dog Quoodle, Wine and Water, The Logical Vegetarian, The Good Rich Man, The Saracen’s Head, and The Rolling English Road."
