I read this 5 years ago. As I'm learning over and over again, the 2nd time is often better than the first. In The Everlasting Man Chesterton responds to H.G. Wells' book "A Short History of the World" with his own history. He assumes the populist evolutionary position as a sort of reductio ad absurdum. Man is thought to be an animal? Then Chesterton will picture him as one, but as a means to show you what a surprising, unlikely, and all together strange animal he must be. Christ is a mere man? Well. Chesterton imagines him as one in order to show how impossible a man he is. No, in Chesterton's mind it is only the Christian story which can satisfy the longings embodied in those twin systems, myth and philosophy. Only the Christian mytho-philosophy satisfies BOTH the longing for myth (by being a story) and the longing for philosophical wisdom (by being true). He traces the outline of history to describe how at different times Man has been satisfied by myth, but never wholly satisfied, and other times satisfied by philosophy, but never really satiated. When civilization had reached its peak in Rome, when all the best and worst of both philosophy and myth had been tried, all failed. From Chesterton's perspective there is a sense in which the end of Rome was the end of the world. All that the world ever had to offer had already been offered. Nothing new has arisen since then except the only new thing, which was only new because it was the original thing, and that thing was so old it had been forgotten. As Rome came crashing down and the world ended, Christianity began and so began a new world. This theo-historical summary of the world is an eye opening picture from a mind with eyes wide open. He is intensely logical while at the same time intensely poetic. His style combines whimsy with wit in a way that dulls neither. I heartily recommend this book to anyone with questions about Christianity's relationship to myth, philosophy, and history. Whether or not you agree you will certainly be entertained.