The Great Peril and How It Was Averted.

CLOWES, W. Laird.

$250.00

Item Number: 148069

London: Offices of "Black and White", 1893.

First edition of this scarce science fiction novel. Octavo, original pictorial cloth with gilt titles to the spine, pictorial endpapers, illustrated with twelve black and white plates. In very good condition.

The Great Peril and How It Was Averted (1893) by Sir William Laird Clowes is a work of speculative fiction that reflects late 19th-century anxieties about national security and military preparedness. Clowes, a respected naval historian and journalist, wrote extensively on maritime strategy and British naval power, and this novel serves as an extension of his concerns regarding the potential vulnerabilities of the British Empire. The book presents a fictionalized account of a looming national crisis and the strategic measures taken to prevent disaster, blending elements of political commentary and military foresight. While not as well-known as his historical works, The Great Peril and How It Was Averted is significant in the context of invasion literature, a genre that flourished in Britain during this period, reflecting fears of foreign threats and the importance of military readiness.