Born in 1874, Gilbert Keith Chesterton was one the intellectual giants of his day, and was known for his writing that spanned fields as diverse as literary criticism, fiction and fantasy, satire, and Christian apologetics. Chesterton often blended elements of such genres together, as indicated in his famous novel , which combines a mystery plot with Christian imagery and symbolism. His work in the field of literary criticism was immensely influential in his day, and his book length study of Charles Dickens can be credited with bringing that authors work back to the forefront of scholarly study.