Science Fiction of the British Empire PDF Download

Author: George Tomkyns Chesney
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 774

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Book Description
The British Empire was largely accidental. During the 17th and 18th centuries, a small island nation accrued a patchwork scattering of commercial monopolies, isolated ports, utopian experiments, and surrendered colonies. By the time of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee in 1897, the British Empire was the largest the world had ever seen. The shape of the Empire was amorphous, its machinery unwieldy, its values contradictory, and its legacy ambivalent. Science fiction developed along with it, to celebrate and critique the imperial project. This volume features rarely reprinted stories from across the United Kingdom, India, Bangladesh, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada, including the "Poet of the Empire" Rudyard Kipling, Indian nationalist Shoshee Chunder Dutt, New Zealand Prime Minister Sir Julius Vogel, Catholic theologian G.K. Chesterton, Muslim feminist Begum Rokeya Sakhawat Hussain, Canadian satirist Stephen Leacock, military alarmist George Tomkyns Chesney, and "Jeeves and Wooster" creator P.G. Wodehouse.

Author: Sarah Irving
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317315227
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 198

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Book Description
Represents a history of the British Empire that takes account of the sense of empire as intellectual as well as geographic dominion: the historiography of the British Empire, with its preoccupation of empire as geographically unchallenged sovereignty, overlooks the idea of empire as intellectual dominion.

Author: John Rieder
Publisher: Wesleyan University Press
ISBN: 0819573809
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 201

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Book Description
This groundbreaking study explores science fiction's complex relationship with colonialism and imperialism. In the first full-length study of the subject, John Rieder argues that the history and ideology of colonialism are crucial components of science fiction's displaced references to history and its engagement in ideological production. With original scholarship and theoretical sophistication, he offers new and innovative readings of both acknowledged classics and rediscovered gems. Rider proposes that the basic texture of much science fiction—in particular its vacillation between fantasies of discovery and visions of disaster—is established by the profound ambivalence that pervades colonial accounts of the exotic “other.” Includes discussion of works by Edwin A. Abbott, Edward Bellamy, Edgar Rice Burroughs, John W. Campbell, George Tomkyns Chesney, Arthur Conan Doyle, H. Rider Haggard, Edmond Hamilton, W. H. Hudson, Richard Jefferies, Henry Kuttner, Alun Llewellyn, Jack London, A. Merritt, Catherine L. Moore, William Morris, Garrett P. Serviss, Mary Shelley, Olaf Stapledon, and H. G. Wells.

Author: Christopher G. Nuttall
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781909636132
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 486

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Book Description
Dive into the hottest new movement in British science fiction with this anthology featuring some of its biggest stars. This bundle contains four science fiction novels from bestselling British authors, three exclusive short stories, one of which is lavishly illustrated by award-winning artist Andy Bigwood, and two essays. Find out more at www.empireatwar.co.uk THE NOVELS- Their Darkest Hour by Christopher G. Nuttall. Aliens take control of Britain's cities and force the remainder of the British military to go on the run. With the government destroyed, the population must choose between fighting and collaborating with the alien overlords. Discovery of the Saiph by P.P. Corcoran. The Marco Polo leads mankind to Proxima Centauri outside Earth's Solar System where the ship's scientists detect power readings they are artificial, alien and emanate from Planet III... a wasteland that suffered a devastating nuclear bombardment many thousands of years before. Archaeologists discover an alien library deep underground and are astonished to unlock its secrets with human DNA. C.R.O.W. by Phillip Richards. Andy Moralee knew that life with his new company of Dropship Infantry would be hard, but nothing could prepare him for life in one of the toughest units in the Union army. New arrivals, nicknamed 'Crow' by their platoons, are the lowest form of life in his Company, and he finds himself at the mercy of unforgiving commanders and bullies, all the time knowing that the real enemy are waiting for him at the end of his journey through the void. The enemy know that the Union are coming, they have dug in and fortified, and they are ready Marine Cadet by Tim C. Taylor. 2565 A.D. When seventeen-year old Marine Cadet, Arun McEwan, forges an unlikely friendship with an alien scribe, he crashes into a world of treachery and conspiracy. How can he possibly survive three more years until graduation when every day brings a new deadly threat? But survive he must because his new alien allies show him glimpses of his destiny -- a vision of a better future that only he can forge. A dream called the Human Legion THE EXCLUSIVE SHORT STORIES- Haven One-Eight by P.P. Corcoran. A relentless foe seeks to murder the Faithful in their haven, but who are these unstoppable servants of Satan? The answer will shock you. The President's Son by Tim C. Taylor. The characters in the Human Legion series have been isolated from the rest of humanity for centuries, but their distant ancestors were taken as children from Earth. In The President's Son, a short story exclusive to this collection, we hear the story of that first group of slave children. Fallen Witness - artwork by Andy Bigwood and words by Tim C. Taylor. The third short story in the collection is special. The sumptuous cover artwork for The Empire at War was produced by Andy Bigwood, whose cover art has twice before won the best artwork award from the British Science Fiction Association. Andy has supplied seven fantastic pieces of artwork that are interspersed with the other stories. Box Set Exclusive Preview- Phillip Richards presents an intriguing peak at his new SF series with the opening chapters of Escape from the Hive. AND FINALLY, WORDS FROM TIM C. TAYLOR- SitRep: The State of British Military SF Roll Call: British Military SF authors.

Author: Patricia Kerslake
Publisher: Liverpool University Press
ISBN: 1846310245
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 226

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Book Description
From its beginnings, science fiction has experimented with imperialistic scenarios of alien invasion, extraterrestrial exploitation, xenophobia, and colonial conquest. In Science Fiction and Empire, Patricia Kerslake brings contemporary thinking about postcolonialism and imperialism to bear on a variety of classic sci-fi novels and films, including The War of the Worlds, Stanislaw Lem’s Solaris, and Star Wars. The first book to identify the consequences of empire in science fiction, Kerslake’s study is a compelling investigation of the political ramifications of how we imagine our future. “Science Fiction and Empire is thought-provoking and insightful, . . . the kind of large-scale postcolonial work that science fiction has needed for quite some time.”—Science Fiction Studies

Author: Bruce J. Hunt
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9781108828543
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
In the second half of the nineteenth century, British firms and engineers built, laid, and ran a vast global network of submarine telegraph cables. For the first time, cities around the world were put into almost instantaneous contact, with profound effects on commerce, international affairs, and the dissemination of news. Science, too, was strongly affected, as cable telegraphy exposed electrical researchers to important new phenomena while also providing a new and vastly larger market for their expertise. By examining the deep ties that linked the cable industry to work in electrical physics in the nineteenth century - culminating in James Clerk Maxwell's formulation of his theory of the electromagnetic field - Bruce J. Hunt sheds new light both on the history of the Victorian British Empire and on the relationship between science and technology.

Author: Sathnam Sanghera
Publisher: Pantheon
ISBN: 0593316681
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 385

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Book Description
A best-selling journalist’s illuminating tour through the hidden legacies and modern realities of British empire that exposes how much of the present-day United Kingdom is actually rooted in its colonial past. Empireland boldly and lucidly makes the case that in order to understand America, we must first understand British imperialism. "Empireland is brilliantly written, deeply researched and massively important. It’ll stay in your head for years.” —John Oliver, Emmy Award-winning host of "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver" With a new introduction by the author and a foreword by Booker Prize-winner Marlon James A best-selling journalist’s illuminating tour through the hidden legacies and modern realities of British empire that exposes how much of the present-day United Kingdom is actually rooted in its colonial past. Empireland boldly and lucidly makes the case that in order to understand America, we must first understand British imperialism. Empire—whether British or otherwise—informs nearly everything we do. From common thought to our daily routines; from the foundations of social safety nets to the realities of racism; and from the distrust of public intellectuals to the exceptionalism that permeates immigration debates, the Brexit campaign and the global reckonings with controversial memorials, Empireland shows how the pernicious legacy of Western imperialism undergirds our everyday lives, yet remains shockingly obscured from view. In accessible, witty prose, award-winning journalist and best-selling author Sathnam Sanghera traces this legacy back to its source, exposing how—in both profound and innocuous ways—imperial domination has shaped the United Kingdom we know today. Sanghera connects the historical dots across continents and seas to show how the shadows of a colonial past still linger over modern-day Britain and how the world, in turn, was shaped by Britain’s looming hand. The implications, of course, extend to Britain’s most notorious former colony turned imperial power: the United States of America, which prides itself for its maverick soul and yet seems to have inherited all the ambition, brutality and exceptional thinking of its parent. With a foreword by Booker Prize–winner Marlon James, Empireland is a revelatory and lucid work of political history that offers a sobering appraisal of the past so we may move toward a more just future.

Author: Tom Zoellner
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674984307
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 377

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Book Description
Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award “Impeccably researched and seductively readable...tells the story of Sam Sharpe’s revolution manqué, and the subsequent abolition of slavery in Jamaica, in a way that’s acutely relevant to the racial unrest of our own time.” —Madison Smartt Bell, author of All Souls’ Rising The final uprising of enslaved people in Jamaica started as a peaceful labor strike a few days shy of Christmas in 1831. A harsh crackdown by white militias quickly sparked a full-blown revolt, leaving hundreds of plantation houses in smoking ruins. The rebels lost their daring bid for freedom, but their headline-grabbing defiance triggered a decisive turn against slavery. Island on Fire is a dramatic day-by-day account of these transformative events. A skillful storyteller, Tom Zoellner uses diaries, letters, and colonial records to tell the intimate story of the men and women who rose up and briefly tasted liberty. He brings to life the rebellion’s enigmatic leader, the preacher Samuel Sharpe, and shows how his fiery resistance turned the tide of opinion in London and hastened the end of slavery in the British Empire. “Zoellner’s vigorous, fast-paced account brings to life a varied gallery of participants...The revolt failed to improve conditions for the enslaved in Jamaica, but it crucially wounded the institution of slavery itself.” —Fergus M. Bordewich, Wall Street Journal “It’s high time that we had a book like the splendid one Tom Zoellner has written: a highly readable but carefully documented account of the greatest of all British slave rebellions, the miseries that led to it, and the momentous changes it wrought.” —Adam Hochschild, author of Bury the Chains

Author: Lawrence James
Publisher: Macmillan + ORM
ISBN: 146684213X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 978

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Book Description
“A stylish, intelligent and readable book.” —The New York Times Book Review Birthed as a maritime superpower, the ruler of half the globe, Britain today finds itself in a precarious position, often stirring conflict within its European kin. This book provides a nuanced reflection of Britain's tumultuous transition from a globally dominant empire to an economically fragile island. In The Rise and Fall of the British Empire, Lawrence James has written a comprehensive, perceptive, and insightful history of the British Empire. Spanning the years from 1600 to the present day, this critically acclaimed book combines detailed scholarship with readable popular history.

Author: John Newsinger
Publisher: Bookmarks
ISBN: 9781909026292
Category : Commonwealth countries
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
'The Blood Never Dried' challenges the rising chorus of claims that the British Empire was a kinder, gentler force in the world of imperialism. John Newsinger sets out to uncover this neglected history of repression and resistance. To the boast that 'the sun never set on the British Empire' the Chartist Ernest Jones replied 'and the blood never dried.' This updated edition brings the story up to the Obama administration and Britain's changing relationship with the US, as well as taking into account the Arab Spring and its implications.