www.pickeringchatto.

com/edwardianfuture

Political Future Fiction

General Editor: Kate Macdonald Volume Editors: Richard Bleiler and Stephen Donovan
3 Volume Set: c.1200pp: April 2013 978 1 84893 348 4: 234x156mm: 275/$495

Speculative and Counter-Factual Politics in Edwardian Fiction

The Edwardian period was a time of great social and political change. While the British Empire was still dominant the threat from rival empires was growing, the lower-classes were gaining political representation and womens suffrage was gathering momentum. The six novels in this collection include works by Joseph Conrad and Ford Madox Ford (Hueffer) and John Buchan. They represent a significant genre of fiction which sought to explore current political issues through imagined futures. Imperialism and feminism interweave these texts. Imperialism and especially the British Empire is a recurrent theme which is explored from both pro- and anti- standpoints, while the expansion of the Empire in Africa is fictionalised in accounts that are based closely on contemporary events and real African states. The influence of first-wave feminism and contemporary suffrage campaigning is evident in the texts exploration of gender role-reversals, and extrapolations from the premise that women would gain the vote, and could thus hold political office. These are the only critical editions of these novels. The texts are contextualized within their contemporary reception, with the use of contemporary reviews and correspondence. The edition will be of value to those researching late Victorian and Edwardian literature and culture, social and political history, empire studies and gender.

The Rhodes Colossus Striding from Cape Town to Cairo (1892) Punch Limited

All six novels are published in critical editions for the first time Critical commentary provides social, literary and political context of the period Includes works by John Buchan and Joseph Conrad which add to our understanding of these writers world views Editorial apparatus includes a substantial general introduction, essays, endnotes and bibliographies Each volume has a separate index

PUBLISHERS

PICKERING & CHATTO

Contents
General Introduction Kate Macdonald

Volume 1: The Empire of the Future

(Editor: Richard Bleiler)
On the Naming of Nineteenth-Century Speculative Fiction Introduction to Samuel Bartons The Battle of the Swash and the Capture of Canada Samuel Barton, The Battle of the Swash and the Capture of Canada (1888) One of the first novels in the future war genre, The Battle of the Swash focuses on what was known in the 1880s as the Canadian Problem. This was primarily a mercantile dispute deriving from Canadas high tariffs on American goods. The Battle of the Swash is the response of a wealthy American businessman, angry at what he saw as Britains subversion of the free market. Though set in 1890, the story is narrated by one Samuel Barton in an imagined 1930. The detail of the horrors as the British navy is able to dominate the Atlantic seaboard, and finally to destroy New York City, is one of the strengths of the novel and makes good use of Bartons familiarity with the sea. Though overlooked by modern scholars, The Battle of the Swash is an intelligent and perceptive tale and the first of its kind to recognize economic growth as a motivation for conflict.

Volume 2: Fictions of a Feminist Future

(Editor: Kate Macdonald)
Introduction to Feminist Future Fiction Allan Reeth, Legions of the Dawn (1908) Legions of the Dawn is an important example of novels inspired by the increasing intensity of suffragette campaigns before the First World War. This Edwardian quest narrative depicts a female-run colony of white women in southern Africa, where men may not appear in public without a female escort, and women are the soldiers, farmers and magistrates. Edwardian social norms are transposed across genders, so that the few men in the settlement are feminised in their dress and limited to passive, domestic roles, while the dominant women govern the colony in war and peace. This remarkable exploration of gendered social roles investigates how demasculinization was feared in the context of feminism.

Una L Silberrad, The Affairs of John Bolsover (1911) The Affairs of John Bolsover is a novel of international and domestic political intrigue. Set in an imagined 1960 where women have won the vote, they must nonetheless pass as men to exercise true political power. John Bolsover is the Conservative Prime Minister, the most brilliant politician of his day, but his efforts to stave off war and to avoid the attentions of women, attract the attention of a journalist. Silberrad explored the practicalities of cross-dressing and the maintenance of political power in a recognisably Edwardian London of the future in this intriguing novel, which integrates expert dissections of party politics and political strategy into a tense detective mystery. Commentary on the Texts Index Bibliography

Introduction to Robert Coles The Struggle for Empire Robert Cole, The Struggle for Empire: A Story of the Year 2236 (1900) In the canon of great literary firsts, The Struggle for Empire has a higher count than most. It is the first novel to offer a clear statement of what is now understood to be Anglo-European cultural imperialism. Understanding that other cultures have similar needs and desires, Cole asked what would happen if a group of rapacious colonials met a group of like-minded aliens on a planet both wanted to exploit. Cole was also the first to recognize that if wars occurred in space, they would be fought using naval (not military) tactics, and additionally, that cultures and civilizations could exist beyond our solar system, for his is the first work to feature interstellar invaders. Contemporary Reviews of The Struggle for Empire Contemporary Essays by Robert Cole and others Discussion Essay: Taking the Future War Fever to Space Index Bibliography

Volume 3: Speculative Fiction and Imperialism in Africa

(Editor: Stephen Donovan)
Introduction to The Inheritors Joseph Conrad and Ford Madox Hueffer, The Inheritors (1901) Joseph Conrad and Ford Madox Hueffers The Inheritors (1901) presents a thinly-veiled satire on the Congo Free State and its supporters in British public life. Political corruption, journalistic sensation, financial conspiracy, and colonial atrocity are all fantastically blended in this tale of a mysterious visitor from the Fourth Dimension. The book takes themes from both writers solo works, including the self-deception and corruption of human nature (Conrad) and the decline of the aristocracy in the twentieth century (Hueffer). Though both men wrote prodigiously in English, Conrad was Polish-born and Hueffer had a German father. This foreignness, combined with the inherent conservatism of the two men meant that their collaborations there were three in total retained the authenticity that comes from single-authored works. Correspondence Concerning The Inheritors Contemporary Reviews of The Inheritors

Introduction to A Lodge in the Wilderness John Buchan, A Lodge in the Wilderness (1906) John Buchans A Lodge in the Wilderness (1906) gathers a cast of imperial luminaries at the African estate of Frances Carey, a millionaire closely modelled on Cecil Rhodes, in order to discuss the future of Britains empire. Though he spent the majority of his diplomatic career in Canada, Buchan began as a government administrator in South Africa in the years immediately following the Boer War. Part colonial manifesto, part political critique, this roman clef, like The Inheritors, draws on the imaginative resources of fiction in order to intervene in an urgent contemporary debate. Correspondence Concerning A Lodge in the Wilderness Contemporary Reviews of A Lodge in the Wilderness Index Bibliography

The Inheritors. An Extravagant Story (McClure, Phillips & Co., New York, 1901) The British Library Board (C.59.ff.18, front cover)

Editorial Board
Kate Macdonald is at the University of Ghent Richard Bleiler is at the Homer Babbidge Library, University of Connecticut Stephen Donovan is at Uppsala University

Related titles

Late Victorian Utopias: A Prospectus

Editor: Gregory Claeys
Utopian writing exists at a juncture of literature, politics and science, making this edition a unique resource for the study of nineteenth-century society. The texts in this set offer an original interpretation of nineteenth-century culture by contemporary writers, providing new insights for modern researchers from both a literary and historical standpoint. 6 Volume Set: 2144pp: 2008 978 1 85196 762 9: 234x156mm: 495/$875

www.pickeringchatto.com/lateutopias

British Literature of World War I

General Editors: Andrew Maunder and Angela K Smith
Given the popular and scholarly interest in the First World War it is surprising how little contemporary literary work is available. This edition aims to redress this balance, making available an extensive collection of newly-edited short stories, novels and plays from 191419. in essence a library in itself ... the orientation is toward the home front, and many of the authors are women, which in itself makes this collection important since much of the literature is out of print or difficult to obtain. Highly recommended. CHOICE 5 Volume Set: 1552pp: 2011 978 1 84893 042 1: 234x156mm: 450/$795

www.pickeringchatto.com/ww1

Lives of Victorian Literary Figures, Part VII: Joseph Conrad, Henry

Rider Haggard and Rudyard Kipling by their Contemporaries
Series Editor: Ralph Pite
The Lives of Victorian Literary Figures series gathers together contemporary writings about famous writers of the time. The texts are presented in digitally enhanced facsimile, and accompanied by new scholarly material from leading academics. a very useful and well-done addition to Conrad studies. The notes and introductions by themselves make the volume worthwhile The Conradian Lives of Victorian Literary Figures 3 Volume Set: 1376pp: 2009 978 1 85196 963 0: 234x156mm: 295/$495

www.pickeringchatto.com/lives

Order Information
North or South America Ashgate Publishing Company PO Box 2225 Williston VT 05495-2225, USA Telephone toll-free (US & Canada): (800) 535 9544 Other enquiries: (802) 276 3162 Fax: (802) 864 7626 email: ash.orders@aidcvt.com Rest of World Turpin Distribution Ltd Stratton Business Park Pegasus Drive Biggleswade, Bedfordshire SG18 8TQ, UK Telephone: +44 (0) 1767 604 951 Fax: +44 (0) 845 009 5840 email: books@turpin-distribution.com

Pickering & Chatto Publishers, 21 Bloomsbury Way, London WC1A 2TH, UK; +44 (0)207 405 1005; info@pickeringchatto.co.uk