All the creative energies of the West have been directed into space exploration and development - dozens of new worlds are being opened up. Left behind on Earth are the sluggish remnants of former greatness. But in the East, a mighty dictatorship has arisen - a single absolute monarch rules: The Nameless One of the East. What follows is a raging conflict, on Earth and in space, conflict as only master science-fictioneer E.E. "Doc" Smith can write it.