The late James Gunn was emeritus professor of English at the University of Kansas and the author or editor of 45 books and 100+ short stories. A former president of both the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America and the Science Fiction Research Association, he received their lifetime awards and induction into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame. He lived in Lawrence, Kansas.

“Excellent”—ARBA; “Comprehensive, neatly balanced and lavishly illustrated...SF fans may never have had so thorough a tribute to their genre.”—Publishers Weekly; “An excellent, an intelligent, comprehensive, and above all objective history...a minor miracle”—Science Fiction Review; “The hundreds of photos of science fiction writers and the equally large number of reproductions of covers from the pulp magazines make it a treasure.”—Jackson Sun; “Gunn gives the history of sf according to Verne, Wells and Campbell. And he does so brilliantly, in a study that will long remain the voice for the so-called ‘hard concept of sf.’”—Extrapolation.

• Table of ContentsPrefaceScience Fiction, I Love You (Isaac Asimov)1. The Shape of the Present2. In the Beginning3. Toward Verne: 1800–1885Between pages 50 and 51 are 8 color plates with 16 photographs4. A Victorian Engineer: 1828–19055. The Birth of the Mass Magazines: 1885–19116. Prophet of Progress: 1866–19467. The Rise of the Pulps: 1911–19268. That Amazing Decade: 1926–19369. The Expanding Universe: 1930–1940Between pages 144 and 145 are 16 color plates with 46 photographs10. The Astounding Editor: 1938–195011. The Big Boom: 1940–195512. Alternate Worlds: 1949–196513. The Shape of Things to Come14. The Shape of Things That Came: 1975–2016Appendix 1: Science Fiction ThemesAppendix 2: A Basic Science Fiction LibaryAppendix 3: A Short History of Western Civilization, Science, Technology and Science FictionIndex

The late James Gunn was emeritus professor of English at the University of Kansas and the author or editor of 45 books and 100+ short stories. A former president of both the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America and the Science Fiction Research Association, he received their lifetime awards and induction into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame. He lived in Lawrence, Kansas.

“Excellent”—ARBA; “Comprehensive, neatly balanced and lavishly illustrated...SF fans may never have had so thorough a tribute to their genre.”—Publishers Weekly; “An excellent, an intelligent, comprehensive, and above all objective history...a minor miracle”—Science Fiction Review; “The hundreds of photos of science fiction writers and the equally large number of reproductions of covers from the pulp magazines make it a treasure.”—Jackson Sun; “Gunn gives the history of sf according to Verne, Wells and Campbell. And he does so brilliantly, in a study that will long remain the voice for the so-called ‘hard concept of sf.’”—Extrapolation.

• Table of ContentsPrefaceScience Fiction, I Love You (Isaac Asimov)1. The Shape of the Present2. In the Beginning3. Toward Verne: 1800–1885Between pages 50 and 51 are 8 color plates with 16 photographs4. A Victorian Engineer: 1828–19055. The Birth of the Mass Magazines: 1885–19116. Prophet of Progress: 1866–19467. The Rise of the Pulps: 1911–19268. That Amazing Decade: 1926–19369. The Expanding Universe: 1930–1940Between pages 144 and 145 are 16 color plates with 46 photographs10. The Astounding Editor: 1938–195011. The Big Boom: 1940–195512. Alternate Worlds: 1949–196513. The Shape of Things to Come14. The Shape of Things That Came: 1975–2016Appendix 1: Science Fiction ThemesAppendix 2: A Basic Science Fiction LibaryAppendix 3: A Short History of Western Civilization, Science, Technology and Science FictionIndex