6 h 33 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · 161 pagesHardcover · 6 × 9 in · 161 pagesAbout this book
At a council where every man wears the name of a day, Thursday is a policeman hiding among anarchists.
Gabriel Syme is a young London poet with a secret job: undercover policeman. A quarrel with anarchist poet Lucian Gregory leads him toward a hidden council, where he takes the name Thursday. Now he must discover what its members plan, stop them, and keep his own identity concealed.
Presiding over the council is Sunday, an enormous, calm figure whom everyone fears and few understand. In G. K. Chesterton’s The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare, suspicion drives a fast, comic adventure through disguises, a duel, and a chase. Beneath the mystery lie questions about order, chaos, identity, and purpose.
What you’ll discover
- A poet under cover Follow Syme as clever words win him a dangerous seat among the men he must fool.
- Breakfast with the council Meet the council above Leicester Square, where each unfamiliar face gives Syme reason for suspicion.
- The puzzle of Sunday Watch the council’s feared president become the focus of an increasingly strange hunt.
- Laughter inside the nightmare Enjoy sharp jokes and sudden absurdity as the story shifts from detective work into dream.
- Order against chaos Explore Chesterton’s challenge to despair through an adventure that puts ideas directly into action.
Is it for you?
This book suits readers who like a puzzle with ideas inside it, and anyone who enjoys comic, odd, fast adventure from the early twentieth century. If you want realistic characters or a plain thriller, the dreamlike last chapters may feel too strange.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Two poets quarrel in Saffron Park
- A policeman is recruited in the dark
- Syme follows Gregory underground
- Syme talks his way into becoming Thursday
- The council of days meets for breakfast
- Suspicion spreads and the chase begins
- The hunt for Sunday grows stranger
- What the nightmare is really about
- How Chesterton tells it: dreams, colors and jokes
Who’s who
- Gabriel SymeA young poet and secret policeman who believes in order and joins the anarchists' council under the name Thursday.
- Lucian GregoryA red haired anarchist poet in Saffron Park who loves to shock and who wants a place on the council.
- SundayThe enormous, calm president of the council of seven days, feared by every member and known to few.
- Professor de WormsAn old, frail looking member of the council who sits at the breakfast table and seems nearly helpless.
- Dr BullA cheerful member of the council who wears dark glasses and hides his thoughts behind his hearty manner.
- The Marquis de St EustacheA sharp and elegant member of the council whose polished manner makes Syme wary.
- GogolA rough and wild looking member of the council who speaks bluntly among the other delegates.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet, computer or Kindle, with the type as large as you like.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 6 h 33 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 14 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in, 161 pages: USD 8.95 when you start free, USD 14.95 on its own.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in, 161 pages: USD 15.95 when you start free, USD 21.95 on its own.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
eBooks and audiobooks open right away. Download EPUB or PDF, or send the book to your Kindle. Every printed copy is made when you order it and shipped worldwide; shipping is shown at checkout.
How it works · 60-day guarantee
- Start free. Nothing to pay today; the eBook of this book is yours to keep.
- Read, listen and print. 200,000+ classics as eBook, large-print eBook, audiobook and 15-minute summary, and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print, for the whole household.
- We remind you first. We email you 7 days before your first payment. Then your first year is 50% off: USD 0.14 a day, then USD 0.27 a day, never raised. Or USD 0.66 a day on the monthly plan. Cancel online in two clicks.
60-day money-back guarantee. If the library is not for you, ask within 60 days of your first payment and we refund it in full.
25 languages, side by side
Read and hear The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare in 25 languages and switch at any time. Or read two side by side, paragraph by paragraph: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
Read it side by side
Mystery & CrimeFree to read
The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare
by G. K. Chesterton· 1908
An undercover policeman enters a secret council of anarchists.
Excellent
- The whole book free
- Read or listen
- 25 languages, side by side
- Print and large print at cost
Opens right away, on any device
Read the whole book freeNo sign-upNothing to pay
Language: English
“Chesterton lays great stress on the youth of Dickens; it is only right that he should do this; the early life of Dickens was probably responsible for the wonderful genius of his art.”
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1 of 9
Two poets quarrel in Saffron Park
The story opens in Saffron Park, a red brick suburb on the western edge of London. It was built to look artistic, and its residents like to think of themselves as free thinkers. One evening two poets meet there and begin an argument that will run through the whole book. One is Lucian Gregory, a thin man with red hair who calls himself an anarchist poet. The other is Gabriel Syme, who says he is a poet of law.
Gregory makes the claim that every true artist belongs to revolt. Poetry, he says, is rebellion, and the only honest poet is the one who wants to tear down rules and governments. His hair and his manner are made for the part. The crowd in Saffron Park listens, delighted, because it likes to hear respectable things insulted.
Renews every year · Cancel anytime
The author
G. K. Chesterton
1874–1936 · English writer and Christian apologist
G. K. Chesterton (1874–1936) was an English writer born in London. He wrote novels, essays, poems and plays. His books include Heretics (1905), The Man Who Was Thursday (1908) and The Innocence of Father Brown (1911). He moved to Beaconsfield in 1909 and lived there until his death.
“The suburb of Saffron Park lay on the sunset side of London, as red and ragged as a cloud of sunset.”
Free gifts
USD 580 in free gifts when you start
Every book in every format and in 25 languages, for the whole household. Nothing to pay today.
- 200,000+ classic eBooksIn 25 languages, side by side
USD 170FREE - Every audiobookIn 25 languages, any device
USD 120FREE - 15-minute summariesRead or listen, in 25 languages
USD 60FREE - Print at cost, no markupPaperback, hardcover, large print
USD 60FREE - The whole householdUp to 5 readers
USD 170FREE - A part in rebuilding the libraryNew languages and books for all
FREE
More by G. K. Chesterton
All 20 books
Free
More like this
Free
Free
Free
Free
Our mission
The library burned once. We are building it back.
Every great book, in every language and every format, for every family. Every plan helps pay for new languages, new audiobooks and books for readers who have never had them. Join the movement.
Read our story- Every language25 languages today, side by side, and more every year
- No wastePrinted on demand: no warehouses, no unsold stock, no pulped copies
- For everyonePaperback, hardcover and large print at the cost of printing
Questions about The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare
Is the whole book really free?
Yes. The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare is one of 200 complete books that are free to read and hear, with no sign-up and nothing to pay. Start free and you also get 200,000+ more classics, the 15-minute summaries, and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print.
Can I buy just the printed book?
Yes. The paperback costs USD 14.95 on its own. Start free and you pay the cost of printing: USD 8.95 for this paperback, and any other book at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print.
Can my family read too?
Yes. The whole household reads and listens: up to 5 readers, each with their own shelf and their own place in every book.
What if it is not for me?
Cancel online in two clicks at any time and nothing more is charged. If you have paid and the library is not for you, ask within 60 days of your first payment and we refund it in full.
What is The Man Who Was Thursday about?
It tells of Gabriel Syme, a poet and undercover policeman who joins a council of anarchists, each named for a day of the week. It mixes a detective chase with a debate on order, rebellion and faith.
Why is it called A Nightmare?
Chesterton gave it that subtitle because the story behaves like a bad dream. Places and people shift, rules change without warning, and the plot grows steadily stranger, though the tone stays comic.
Who is Sunday in The Man Who Was Thursday?
Sunday is the huge, calm president of the council of seven anarchists. Everyone fears him, yet nobody knows what he wants. His identity is the central mystery that drives Syme and the others forward.
Popular in mystery and crime
See all
Free
Free
Free
