Sign-In
Cart
The Napoleon of Notting Hill
Paperback
Classic FictionGeneral FictionLiterary Fiction
Publisher: Les Prairies Numeriques
Published: Mar 1 2026
Pages: 208
Weight: 0.63
Height: 0.48 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
The Napoleon of Notting Hill, like so many Chesterton novels, deftly straddles the fence between humor and philosophy. The place is London, in the far-future year of 1984. Inexplicably, not too much has changed since the turn of the century-except that the king is chosen at random. Things quickly take a turn for the worse when the people randomly select an imbecile who only cares about a good joke.With the new prankster king in place, the novel continues on with surprisingly action-packed breeziness, exploring themes of identity, patriotism, politics, and government. The Napoleon of Notting Hill is a novel written by G. K. Chesterton in 1904, set in a nearly unchanged London in 1984.
Although the novel is set in the future, it is, in effect, set in an alternative reality of Chesterton's own period, with no advances in technology nor changes in the class system or attitudes of the time. It postulates an impersonal government, not described in any detail, but apparently content to operate through a figurehead king, who is randomly chosen.
Synopsis
The dreary succession of randomly selected Kings of England is broken up when Auberon Quin, who cares for nothing but a good joke, is chosen. To amuse himself, he institutes elaborate costumes for the provosts of the districts of London. All are bored by the King's antics except for one earnest young man who takes the cry for regional pride seriously - Adam Wayne, the eponymous Napoleon of Notting Hill.
Influence
Michael Collins, who led the fight for Ireland's secession from the United Kingdom, is known to have admired the book.[1] There has been speculation that the setting of the book prompted the date chosen for the setting of George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four;[2] the Japanese translation of the book, the cover of which was illustrated by Hayao Miyazaki, bore the primary title Chesterton's 1984. The novel is also quoted at the start of Neil Gaiman's novel Neverwhere.
Both this novel and Chesterton's The Man Who Was Thursday are referenced in the 2000 video game Deus Ex.
Also from
Chesterton, G. K.
Chesterton Apologetics Set - Heretics, Orthodoxy, and The Everlasting Man
Chesterton, G. K.
Paperback
Collected Works of G.K. Chesterton: St. Francis of Assisi, the Everlasting Man, St. Thomas Aquinas Volume 2
Chesterton, G. K.
Paperback
The Wholeness of Father Brown: The Complete Collection of Detective Mysteries
Chesterton, G. K.
Hardcover
Collected Works of G.K. Chesterton: Orthodoxy, Heretics, Blatchford Controversies Volume 1
Chesterton, G. K.
Paperback
El hombre eterno: Una defensa histórica del cristianismo - Nueva traducción al castellano moderno
Chesterton, G. K.
Paperback
Chesterton Apologetics Set - Heretics, Orthodoxy, and The Everlasting Man
Chesterton, G. K.
Hardcover
The Three Apologies of G.K. Chesterton: Heretics, Orthodoxy & The Everlasting Man
Chesterton, G. K.
Hardcover
Charles Dickens; a critical study, By G. K. Chesterton: Gilbert Keith Chesterton
Chesterton, G. K.
Paperback
The Three Apologies of G.K. Chesterton: Heretics, Orthodoxy & The Everlasting Man
Chesterton, G. K.
Paperback
The Wit, Whimsy, and Wisdom of G. K. Chesterton, Volume 5: All Things Considered, Tremendous Trifles, Alarms and Discursions
Chesterton, G. K.
Paperback
St Thomas Aquinas: 'The Dumb Ox', a Biography of the Christian Divine (Aziloth Books)
Chesterton, G. K.
Paperback
The Napoleon of Notting Hill with Original Illustrations from the First Edition
Chesterton, G. K.
Paperback
Eugenics and Other Evils: An Argument Against the Scientifically Organized State
Chesterton, G. K.
Paperback
Father Brown Large Print Mysteries: The Innocence of Father Brown Illustrated (Large Print Edition)
Collections, Classic
Chesterton, G. K.
Paperback
The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare (Warbler Classics Annotated Edition)
Chesterton, G. K.
Paperback
The Man Who Was Thursday (Golden Monarch Collector's Edition) (Case Laminate Hardcover with Jacket)
Chesterton, G. K.
Hardcover
Large Print - Orthodoxy - Grand Type Collector's Edition - Matte Hardcover with Dust Jacket (Large Print Edition)
Chesterton, G. K.
Hardcover
G. K. Chesterton Collection: What's Wrong with the World, Orthodoxy, and Heretics
Chesterton, G. K.
Paperback
The Wit, Whimsy, and Wisdom of G. K. Chesterton, Volume 6: The Defendant, Varied Types, a Miscellany of Men, Other Stories
Chesterton, G. K.
Paperback
The Wit, Whimsy, and Wisdom of G. K. Chesterton, Volume 1: The Napoleon of Notting Hill, the Flying Inn, the Trees of Pride
Chesterton, G. K.
Paperback
The Story of the Family: G.K. Chesterton on the Only State That Creates and Loves Its Own Citizens
Chesterton, G. K.
Paperback
Eugenics and Other Evils (1922), by G. K. Chesterton (Original Classics): Gilbert Keith Chesterton
Chesterton, G. K.
Paperback
Collected Works of G.K. Chesterton: What's Wrong with the World, Superstition of Divorce, Eugenics and Other Evils Volume 4
Chesterton, G. K.
Paperback
Love and freindship [i.e. friendship]: and other early works. By: Jane Austen, with a preface By: G. K. Chesterton: Love and Freindship is a juvenile
Austen, Jane
Chesterton, G. K.
Paperback
The Chimes - A Goblin Story of Some Bells that Rang an Old Year Out and a New Year in: With Appreciations and Criticisms By G. K. Chesterton
Dickens, Charles
Chesterton, G. K.
Hardcover
Also in
Literary Fiction
Elizabeth Spencer: Novels & Stories (Loa #344): The Voice at the Back Door / The Light in the Piazza / Knights and Dragons / Stories
Spencer, Elizabeth
Hardcover
Philip Roth: Novels 1973-1977 (Loa #165): The Great American Novel / My Life as a Man / The Professor of Desire
Roth, Philip
Hardcover
John Updike: Novels 1978-1984 (Loa #339): The Coup / Rabbit Is Rich / The Witches of Eastwick
Updike, John
Hardcover
The Patrick Melrose Novels: Never Mind, Bad News, Some Hope, and Mother's Milk
St Aubyn, Edward
Paperback