A Short History of England is a history book written by G. K. Chesterton in which he summarizes British history from the time of Roman provinces on the British Island to the great wars in 20th century. Chesterton takes a rather romanticized view of the absolute monarchy of olden times and naturally gets increasingly more political as his history nears his own time period of World War I. Chesterton's unique perspective as a Catholic and as a collectivist are all reflected in his interpretation of everything from the dissolution of the monasteries to the poor laws of the 19th and 20th centuries

G. K. Chesterton (1874-1936) was an English writer, poet, philosopher, dramatist, journalist, orator, lay theologian, biographer, and literary and art critic. Chesterton is well known for his fictional priest-detective Father Brown, and for his reasoned apologetics. Even some of those who disagree with him have recognized the wide appeal of such works as Orthodoxy and The Everlasting Man. Chesterton is often referred to as the "prince of paradox".