The War in the Air

Abstract

'Each day destruction and hate and disaster grew, the fissures widened between man and man, new regions of the fabric of civilisation crumbled and gave way. Below, the armies grew and the people perished; above, the airships and aeroplanes fought and fled, raining destruction'. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the invention of the aeroplane revolutionises warfare and precipitates a devastating World War. Nations race to build armadas of airships; cities across the globe are bombed; airship navies clash above the Alps and India. United States is invaded from the east and west. German and American airships dual over the Atlantic, and New York is bombarded by German flying machines and gas-filled airships. Airships from the Confederation of Eastern Asia soar above the Rockies, soon engaging in deadly dogfights with the German air fleet above Niagara Falls. The in the Air, the astonishingly prophetic vision of H.G. Wells reveals how one invention can change the world. Before the World Wars, Wells predicted that aeroplanes would be used to bomb targets, that urban areas would become especially vulnerable to aerial bombardment, that dogfights and stealth attacks by air fleets would become a normal part of warfare, and that distance and the expanse of oceans were no longer guarantors of safety for America or other countries. Visionary in its time and chillingly relevant a century later, The in the Air continues to remind us that mankind's greatest evil lies in devices of our own making. H.G. Wells (1866-1946) is one of the most celebrated authors of science fiction. His books include The Sleeper Awakes, The Last War and In the Days of the Comet, also available in the Bison Frontiers of Imagination series. Dave Duncan is a noted writer of fantasy and science fiction. His books are included in such series as The Seventh Swordsman, The King's Blades, A Handful of Men, The Great Game, and The King's Daggers.

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