Paperback / softback | |
December 4, 2003 | |
9780819566669 | |
English | |
340 | |
2 illus. | |
8.50 Inches (US) | |
5.50 Inches (US) | |
.9 Pounds (US) | |
$27.95 USD, £21.95 GBP | |
v2.1 Reference | |
Caesar's Column
A Story of the Twentieth Century
By Ignatius Donnelly Edited by Nicholas Ruddick
Published in 1890, Caesar's Column is an account of a trip to New York City in 1988 by a visitor from the Swiss colony of Uganda. The great metropolis dazzles with its futuristic technology, but its ostentatious wealth and luxury mask the brutal repression of the laboring classes by their rich bosses. The workers, aided by international terrorists, stage a violent revolt and the narrator flees the devastated city by airship to found an agrarian utopia in Africa.
Fueled by outrage at social conditions, Caesar's Column was the first major dystopian novel in the English language. Its author, Ignatius Donnelly, was the most famous—and controversial—American populist politician of the day, and his book became a huge bestseller and was often compared to such utopian works as Edward Bellamy's Looking Backward (1888) and William Morris's News from Nowhere (1890). This Wesleyan edition includes an insightful introduction and notes by Nicholas Ruddick.
Fueled by outrage at social conditions, Caesar's Column was the first major dystopian novel in the English language. Its author, Ignatius Donnelly, was the most famous—and controversial—American populist politician of the day, and his book became a huge bestseller and was often compared to such utopian works as Edward Bellamy's Looking Backward (1888) and William Morris's News from Nowhere (1890). This Wesleyan edition includes an insightful introduction and notes by Nicholas Ruddick.
About the Authors
IGNATIUS DONNELLY (1831-1901) was the author of Atlantis (1882), Dr. Huguet (1891) and The Great Cryptogram (1888), which attempts to prove that Francis Bacon wrote Shakespeare's plays. NICHOLAS RUDDICK is Professor of English at the University of Regina and the author of Ultimate Island: On the Nature of British Science Fiction (1993).
Reviews
"This new edition moves this novel from the periphery towards the center of the discourse concerning the evolution of science fiction literature in the 19th century. Professor Ruddick's scholarly apparatus is thorough, admirable, and revelatory."—David Hartwell, Senior Editor, Tor Books
Endorsements
"This new edition moves this novel from the periphery towards the center of the discourse concerning the evolution of science fiction literature in the 19th century. Professor Ruddick's scholarly apparatus is thorough, admirable, and revelatory." —David Hartwell, Senior Editor, Tor Books
"Caesar's Column has a compelling, horrifying fascination, and this new edition will be widely welcomed by utopian and science-fiction scholars. The novel's apocalyptic climax has a disturbing contemporary resonance."—Patrick Parrinder, Professor of English, University of Reading
"Caesar's Column has a compelling, horrifying fascination, and this new edition will be widely welcomed by utopian and science-fiction scholars. The novel's apocalyptic climax has a disturbing contemporary resonance."—Patrick Parrinder, Professor of English, University of Reading
Paperback / softback | |
December 4, 2003 | |
9780819566669 | |
English | |
340 | |
2 illus. | |
8.50 Inches (US) | |
5.50 Inches (US) | |
.9 Pounds (US) | |
$27.95 USD, £21.95 GBP | |
v2.1 Reference | |
Other Titles by Nicholas Ruddick
Fire in the Stone
Nicholas Ruddick
Jan 2012
- Wesleyan University Press
$35.00 USD
- Hardback
$27.99 USD
- Electronic book text
Other Titles from Early Classics Of Science Fiction
Robur the Conqueror
Jules Verne, edited by Arthur B. Evans, translated by Alex Kirstukas
Jul 2017
- Wesleyan University Press
$29.95 USD
- Hardback
$23.99 USD
- Electronic book text
Celestial Empire
Nathaniel Isaacson
Feb 2017
- Wesleyan University Press
$80.00 USD
- Hardback
$25.95 USD
- Paperback / softback
$19.99 USD
- Electronic book text
Sisters of Tomorrow
edited by Lisa Yaszek, Patrick B. Sharp
Jun 2016
- Wesleyan University Press
$29.95 USD
- Paperback / softback
$23.99 USD
- Electronic book text
Other Titles in FICTION / Science Fiction / General
Typescript of the Second Origin
Manuel de Pedrolo, translated by Sara Martín, OtherKim Stanley Robinson
Mar 2018
- Wesleyan University Press
$17.95 USD
- Paperback / softback
$45.00 USD
- Hardback
Altermundos
edited by Cathryn Josefina Merla-Watson, B. V. Olguin
Apr 2017
- UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center Press
$24.95 USD
- Paperback / softback
The American Shore
Samuel R. Delany, OtherMatthew Cheney
Aug 2014
- Wesleyan University Press
$27.95 USD
- Paperback / softback
$21.99 USD
- Electronic book text