Author: [Chesney, Lieutenant-Colonel Sir George Tomkyns]
Title: The BATTLE Of DORKING. Reminiscences of a Volunteer. From Blackwood's Magazine May 1871
Description: Edinburgh & London: Blackwood & Sons, 1871. 1st separate edition (Bleiler, p. 42). Rebound in purple muslin cloth, with original printed purple front wrapper bound-in. 64 pp. 12mo. 17 cm x 11.5 cm. Spine sunned. Front wrapper with oval bookseller stamp to lower right corner. Bookplates. A VG copy. The 'Battle of Dorking' was, apparently, written to document the need "for a complete reorganization of the British military system." The story's effect, after its initial (& anonymous) magazine publication in 1871, can be gauged by the fact that it drew a public, published response from Prime Minister Gladstone, who, many would say, was somewhat defensive therein. Of more importance to us today, the 'Battle of Dorking' also occasioned the emergence of a distinct sub-genre in the Science Fiction field, i.e. the "prophetic (or cautionary) novel of future war. Its distinguishing characteristic is a richly detailed description of an imminent war.." And while many would later follow in Chesney's footsteps, "none of them would have Chesney's impact." [Gunn "Alternate Worlds", p. 62] An important work, not often found in original wrappers.

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