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The Sign of the Broken Sword
G. K. Chesterton · 1910 · Mystery & Detective
On a frozen road through a silent forest, Father Brown and Flambeau examine the monument of a celebrated soldier whose broken sword and infamous death have become national legend. Three fragments of testimony force them to ask whether public heroism can conceal a darker moral history.
Inside this edition
Every LitLab edition is illustrated from the text itself — the world of the book mapped, its people drawn, its scenes staged. 26 plates are open to everyone in this book; here are 8 of them.
The Two Worlds of the Broken Sword
The World in Edwardian England and tropical campaigns, circa 1910Village life, Atlantic travel, expedition logistics, river engineering, communications, and public military memory.
The Sign of the Broken Sword - Connections and Evidence
The Sign of the Broken Sword - Principal Characters
Father Brown - The Quiet Guide
Flambeau - The Restless Listener
Scene I - The Tomb in the Frozen Churchyard
Scene III - The Word That Isn't There
This edition
- Title
- The Sign of the Broken Sword
- Author
- G. K. Chesterton (1874–1936)
- First published
- 1910
- Illustrated plates
- 59 original artworks · 26 open to everyone
- Chapters
- 1 · about 7,042 words
- Reading time
- 28 min
- Language
- EN
- Formats
- Read online · EPUB and PDF download with a subscription
- Publisher
- LitLab — The Illustrated Classics
- On LitLab since
- August 2026
- Rights
- Text in the public domain. Illustrations and edition © LitLab.
- Source text
- Project Gutenberg #204
Neighbours in the library
Chosen by what they share with The Sign of the Broken Sword — the same author, the same genre.