Comments on: Acquisitions http://airminded.org/2005/10/07/acquisitions-6/ Airpower and British society, 1908-1941 Sat, 21 Nov 2009 04:15:39 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 hourly 1 By: Brett Holman http://airminded.org/2005/10/07/acquisitions-6/comment-page-1/#comment-54 Brett Holman Fri, 07 Oct 2005 16:31:59 +0000 http://airminded.org/?p=51#comment-54 Ah yes, it's a great book (far better than <em>The Shape of Things to Come</em>). Stapledon has an Anglo-French war which obliterates both London and Paris in the space of a weekend: 'In a couple of hours a third of London was in ruins, and half her population lay poisoned in the streets.' Also of interest to me is the significance that flying has in the culture of the First World State - very airminded they were! I was blown away by the sheer imagination on display on <em>Last and First Men</em>. And then I read <em>Star Maker</em> ... ! Two utterly remarkable books. But anyway, these posts are just stuff I've picked up recently. I acquired <em>Last and First Men</em> long ago :) Although not in a contemporary edition ... uh oh. Ah yes, it’s a great book (far better than The Shape of Things to Come). Stapledon has an Anglo-French war which obliterates both London and Paris in the space of a weekend: ‘In a couple of hours a third of London was in ruins, and half her population lay poisoned in the streets.’ Also of interest to me is the significance that flying has in the culture of the First World State – very airminded they were!

I was blown away by the sheer imagination on display on Last and First Men. And then I read Star Maker … ! Two utterly remarkable books.

But anyway, these posts are just stuff I’ve picked up recently. I acquired Last and First Men long ago :) Although not in a contemporary edition … uh oh.

]]> By: Chris Williams http://airminded.org/2005/10/07/acquisitions-6/comment-page-1/#comment-52 Chris Williams Fri, 07 Oct 2005 13:22:33 +0000 http://airminded.org/?p=51#comment-52 And another - 'Last and First Men' by Olaf Stapledon. The 1940s feature for about the first ten pages of this one, IIRC. Then he gets a bit exponential with his coverage, ending it a couple of billion years later having wiped out humanity and post-humanity at least twice. And another – ‘Last and First Men’ by Olaf Stapledon. The 1940s feature for about the first ten pages of this one, IIRC. Then he gets a bit exponential with his coverage, ending it a couple of billion years later having wiped out humanity and post-humanity at least twice.

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