The Napoleon of Notting Hill by G.K. Chesterton

"Every man is dangerous," said the old man without moving, "who cares only for one thing.  I was once dangerous myself."

London: eighty years in the future.  Nothing has changed much, and people have grown so apathetic about their government that democracy has been replaced with an absolute monarchy; however, in this new regime the monarch is chosen by popular election.  

It works fine, and the land is governed in a suitably grey fashion until the people elect a practical joker as their new king, Auberon Quin.  Quin is intent on stirring things up.  He appoints a provost to each suburb in London, orders them to dress in brightly coloured medieval garb and that each of them is to be preceded wherever they go by five trumpet-wielding heralds.  Needless to say, the very single-minded and vain provosts hate their new king.

But then the king makes a miscalculation.  He appoints as Provost of Notting Hill a young man who believes the king's farcical system is actually virtuous and chivalric, and he takes every step he can to uphold each and every lunatic law.  

He had that rational and deliberate preference which will always to the end trouble the peace of the world, the rational and deliberate preference for a short life and a merry one.

So it is.  Tensions mount and a series of civil wars ensue.  There are deaths

Well, this is one of the kookiest stories I have read, but I enjoyed it immensely.  Chesterton is a thinker, and there is a lot of philosophical and moral meat on the bones of this tale.  What are the consequences of political apathy in a democracy?  What happens when the ability to compromise is lost?  What happens when we under-estimate those to whom we are opposed?

The Napoleon of Notting Hill is a short novel.  The style is beautiful although a bit wordy by today's standards.  Its themes are worthy and serious, but Chesterton is able to offset the seriousness with liberal doses of humour.  Well worth reading if you have a spare afternoon and evening.

N.B.  Chesterton published this book in 1904, so that means the action in it takes place in 1984.