G. K. Chesterton 
What I Saw in America (Barnes & Noble Digital Library) 

‘What is America?’ Chesterton asks in the opening chapter of this perceptive and high-spirited book, originally published in 1922. In due course, he meditates on the nature of the American hotel,  the Broadway theater, and the American businessman. He also touches upon politics,  cities, fads, and public opinion, as well as giving an early take on the Prohibition experiment. Finally, he speculates on the future of democracy,  compares the spirit of America to that of England, and asks ’Is the Atlantic Narrowing?’  

About the author

G. K. Chesterton (1874-1936) was a prolific and influential English writer known for the wide-range of his talents, which included mysteries, fantasies, and Christian apologetics.  A spirited Catholic polemicist, he was the author of the beloved Father Brown mysteries, as well as of the classic metaphysical thriller, The Man Who Was Thursday.