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Last and First Men 

Last and First Men (1930)
A novel by Olaf Stapledon

 

"No book before or since has ever had such an impact on my imagination."
Arthur C Clarke


First published nearly 70 years ago, this text is regarded as one of the most influential science fiction novels of the 20th century. Olaf Stapledon creates a history of the evolution of humankind over the next two billion years.Olaf Stapledon's first novel Last and First Men, published in 1930, has sometimes been called science fiction's Bible--a sweeping, exhilarating history of humanity's future. Its awesome timescale, stretching across five billion years, was an inspiration to the young Arthur C. Clarke, who later wrote: "No book before or since ever had such an impact on my imagination." However, Last and First Men should come with a health warning: The early chapters, dealing with near-future politics from the viewpoint of 1930, are mired in dodgy short-term speculation and have dated badly. Soon Stapledon rings down the curtain on us "First Men" as an uncontrolled nuclear reaction sweeps the world and boils the oceans--and now his imagination takes flight. The Second Men are plagued with invasions of cloud-like Martians; the bat-eared, six-fingered Third Men deliberately create the Fourth Men who are essentially huge, immobile brains ... and so on through ever-vaster gulfs of time. Individuals, nations, civilizations, even species are evocatively shown as mayflies flickering in and out of existence in an immense, chilly cosmos that goes uncaringly on forever. Yet it's not a gloomy work: even as the dying Sun promises to become their funeral pyre, the Last Men affirm that "It is very good to have been man." Another classic choice from Millennium SF Masterworks. --David Langford

 
Used availability for Olaf Stapledon's Last and First Men


See all available used copies of this book at: Abebooks UK or Abebooks US
 

 

Hardback Editions

June 1976 : Textbook Binding
Title: Last and First Men
Author(s):: William Olaf Stapledon
ISBN: 999749802X / 9789997498021
Publisher: Gregg Pr
Availability: Amazon   

January 1974 : Hardback
Title: Last and First Men
Author(s):: Olaf Stapledon
ISBN: 085046479X / 9780850464795 (UK edition)
Publisher: Lythway P.
Availability: Amazon   Amazon CA   Amazon UK   

Paperback Editions

November 2010 : Paperback
Title: Last and First Men
Author(s):: Olaf Stapledon
ISBN: 1849026041 / 9781849026048 (UK edition)
Publisher: Benediction Classics
Availability: Amazon   Amazon UK   

June 2008 : Paperback
Title: Last and First Men
Author(s):: Olaf Stapledon
ISBN: 1409207250 / 9781409207252 (UK edition)
Publisher: lulu.com
Availability: Amazon CA   Amazon   Amazon UK   

April 2009 : Paperback
Title: Last And First Men (Sf Masterworks 11)
Author(s):: Olaf Stapledon
ISBN: 0575082569 / 9780575082564 (UK edition)
Publisher: Gollancz
Availability: Amazon UK   Amazon   

May 2008 : Paperback
Title: Last and First Men (Dover Books on Literature & Drama)
Author(s):: Olaf Stapledon
ISBN: 0486466825 / 9780486466828 (USA edition)
Publisher: Dover Publications
Availability: Amazon UK   Amazon   Amazon CA   

June 1999 : Paperback
Title: Last And First Men (S.F. MASTERWORKS)
Author(s):: Olaf Stapledon
ISBN: 185798806X / 9781857988062 (UK edition)
Publisher: Gollancz
Availability: Amazon   Amazon UK   

March 1988 : Paperback
Title: Last and First Men: A Story of the Near and Far Future
Author(s):: Olaf Stapledon
ISBN: 0874774713 / 9780874774719 (USA edition)
Publisher: J P Tarcher
Availability: Amazon CA   Amazon UK   Amazon   

March 1987 : Paperback
Title: Last and First Men (Classic Science Fiction)
Author(s):: Olaf Stapledon
ISBN: 0140080880 / 9780140080889 (UK edition)
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Availability: Amazon CA   Amazon UK   Amazon   

June 1968 : Paperback
Title: Last and First Men and Star Maker : Two Science Fiction Novels
Author(s):: Olaf Stapledon
ISBN: 0486219623 / 9780486219622 (USA edition)
Publisher: Dover Publications
Availability: Amazon UK   Amazon   Amazon CA   

September 1978 : Paperback
Title: Last and First Men
Author(s):: Olaf Stapledon
ISBN: 0417027400 / 9780417027401 (UK edition)
Publisher: Littlehampton Book Services Ltd
Availability: Amazon   Amazon CA   Amazon UK   

February 1973 : Paperback
Title: Last and first men, and Last men in London. by Olaf Stapledon 622953 Last and first men, and Last men in London
Author(s):: Olaf Stapledon
ISBN: 0140035060 / 9780140035063 (UK edition)
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Availability: Amazon CA   Amazon UK   Amazon   

Kindle Editions

December 2012 : Kindle edition
Title: Last and First Men
Author(s):: Olaf Stapledon
ISBN: B00ANDSIK8
Publisher:
Availability: Amazon   

July 2012 : Kindle edition
Title: Last and First Men
Author(s):: Olaf Stapledon
ISBN: B008GZ1QQI
Publisher:
Availability: Amazon   

March 2012 : Kindle edition
Title: Last And First Men (S.F. MASTERWORKS)
Author(s):: Olaf Stapledon
ISBN: B007FXIBAG
Publisher: Gateway
Availability: Amazon UK   

March 2012 : Kindle edition
Title: Last and First Men
Author(s):: William Olaf Stapledon
ISBN: B007MJMZZ0
Publisher: William
Availability: Amazon   

March 2012 : Kindle edition
Title: Last And First Men ( Annotated )
Author(s):: Olaf Stapledon
ISBN: B007H0TLCY
Publisher:
Availability: Amazon   

February 2012 : Kindle edition
Title: Last and First Men (Annotated Edition)
Author(s):: William Olaf Stapledon
ISBN: B007C4URDM
Publisher:
Availability: Amazon   

November 2011 : Kindle edition
Title: Last and First Men
Author(s):: Olaf Stapledon
ISBN: B00695TBIW
Publisher:
Availability: Amazon   

January 1930 : Kindle edition
Title: Last And First Men
Author(s):: William Olaf Stapledon
ISBN: B004OEKAQW
Publisher:
Availability: Amazon   Amazon UK   

 


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