The Time Machines: The Story of the Science-Fiction Pulp Magazines from the Beginning to 1950 (Liverpool Science Fiction Texts and Studies)

This is the first of three volumes that chart the history of the science fiction magazine from the earliest days to the present. This first volume looks at the exuberant years of the pulp magazines. It traces the growth and development of the science fiction magazines from when Hugo Gernsback launched the very first, Amazing Stories , in 1926 through to the birth of the atomic age and the death of the pulps in the early 1950s. These were the days of the youth of science fiction, when it was brash, raw and exciting: the days of the first great space operas by Edward Elmer Smith and Edmond Hamilton, through the cosmic thought variants by Murray Leinster, Jack Williamson and others to the early 1940s when John W. Campbell at Astounding did his best to nurture the infant genre into adulthood. Under him such major names as Robert A. Heinlein, Isaac Asimov, A. E. van Vogt and Theodore Sturgeon emerged who, along with other such new talents as Ray Bradbury and Arthur C. Clarke, helped create modern science fiction. For over forty years magazines were at the heart of science fiction and this book considers how the magazines, and their publishers, editors and authors influenced the growth and perception of this fascinating genre. "This book focuses on three English civil wars: the civil war of King Stephen's reign; the War of the Roses; and the civil war of the seventeenth century. The civil wars are considered within a wider European context, and characteristics of civil war are discussed alongside developments in European warfare." "The nine contributors to the book deal with the general theme of the interacton of war and society rather than the details of individual campaigns and battles. The book is concerned with the nature of war and the way it was conducted in the medieval and early modern periods, as well as the way it has been recorded and interpreted by contemporaries and later commentators."--Jacket Title Page......Page 4 Table of Contents......Page 6 Preface......Page 8 Acknowledgements......Page 11 1: Before the Creation......Page 13 2: An Amazing Experiment......Page 57 3: Towards the Golden Age......Page 105 4: The Golden Age......Page 147 5: Unleashing the Atom......Page 177 Epilogue......Page 242 Appendix 1: Non-English-Language Science-Fiction Magazines......Page 245 Appendix 2: Summary of Science-Fiction Magazines......Page 249 Appendix 3: Directory of Magazine Editors and Publishers......Page 268 Appendix 4: Directory of Magazine Cover Artists......Page 278 Select Bibliography......Page 295 Index......Page 301 ISBN-13: 9780853238553 Title Page 4 Table of Contents 6 Preface 8 Acknowledgements 11 1: Before the Creation 13 2: An Amazing Experiment 57 3: Towards the Golden Age 105 4: The Golden Age 147 5: Unleashing the Atom 177 Epilogue 242 Appendix 1: Non-English-Language Science-Fiction Magazines 245 Appendix 2: Summary of Science-Fiction Magazines 249 Appendix 3: Directory of Magazine Editors and Publishers 268 Appendix 4: Directory of Magazine Cover Artists 278 Select Bibliography 295 Index 301 Publisher:,Liverpool,University,Press,Number,Of,Pages:,320 v. 1. The time machines : the story of the science-fiction pulp magazines from the beginning to 1950 v. 2. Transformations : the story of the science-fiction magazines from 1950 to 1970 v. 3. Gateways to forever : the story of the science-fiction magazines from 1970 to 1980 Originally conceived as atrilogy, this is the first of five volumes that chart the history of thescience fiction magazine from the earliest days to the present. Mike Ashley. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [283]-287) And Index.