George Griffith’s The Angel of the Revolution (1893) tells the story of a group of revolutionaries who conquer the world using airship technology. They create a ‘Brotherhood of freedom’ establishing a ‘pax aeronuatica’ over the earth.
This melodramatic fantasy of air warfare and the socialist message influenced H G Wells and foreshadowed the air battles of World War I. In novels like The War in the Air (1908), H G Wells emphasised the importance of the aircraft, especially in war. In a postcard, dated 1 May 1918, shortly before the end of World War I, he stated that ‘the most important invention since 1850 is the aeroplane’.
Free-spirited and independent, educated and uninterested in marriage and children, the figure of the New Woman threatened conventional ideas about ideal Victorian womanhood. Greg Buzwell explores the place of the New Woman – by turns comical, dangerous and inspirational – in journalism and in fiction by writers such as Thomas Hardy, George Gissing and Sarah Grand.
In the 19th century, the British feared invasion by the French, terrorists and even aliens. Mike Ashley explains how these concerns were reflected in literature.
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