10 h 55 minAudiobook10 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 10 h 55 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What happens to a fragile peace when nations gain the power to strike from the sky?
In The World Peril of 1910, George Chetwynd Griffith imagines a world of airships, powerful weapons and threatened peace. Science promises new powers, but those powers bring danger. This early science fiction adventure turns the wonder of invention toward a darker question: what might progress put at risk?
Flight and weapons of great force stand at the heart of this scientific romance. Action, daring journeys and bold choices drive the adventure rather than quiet reflection. Griffith invites you into an imagined future where machines change the balance of power, and the possibilities of discovery carry the threat of war.
What you’ll discover
- War in the skies Imagine how the power to attack from above changes the meaning of safety below.
- Invention with a dangerous edge Explore a vision of scientific progress where powerful machines threaten an already fragile peace.
- Adventure driven by action Follow the pull of daring journeys and bold choices rather than pauses for quiet reflection.
- An early imagined future Enter an age's vision of tomorrow, shaped by fascination with machines and fear of their use.
- The cost of progress Consider what humanity risks when the power of invention becomes the power to wage war.
Who will love it
Readers who enjoy early science fiction, invasion stories and inventor heroes, and who like naval battles, big machines and a ticking clock over a whole planet. It will also suit anyone curious about how 1900s writers pictured air power.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A swimming race sets two rivals apart
- An inventor sells his secret to the Kaiser
- A sighting at sea and a doom among the stars
- Britain goes to war and a warship is born
- The Flying Fish strikes Portsmouth
- A great mistake and a trap at Spithead
- A cannon in a coal pit
- The Kaiser refuses, and Parmenter brings a fleet
- What the story is about and how it is told
Who’s who
- John CastellanAn Irish inventor of Spanish descent who hates England and sells his flying submarine to the Kaiser, hoping to free Ireland and win Auriole.
- Gilbert LennardA young astronomer who finds the comet and works out the one way to stop it, while he loves Auriole in silence.
- Auriole ParmenterA clever, calm American heiress who learns the truth about the comet and stands beside Lennard when the time comes.
- Francis ErskineA young naval captain who designs and commands the Ithuriel, a ramming warship that sinks fleets almost alone.
- Denis CastellanErskine's first lieutenant, John's loyal brother, a gifted linguist who serves Britain and wants to end his brother's war.
- Norah CastellanJohn's sister, who begs him not to sell his invention, disowns him, and falls in love with Lord Westerham.
- Ratliffe ParmenterAn American millionaire who built the great telescope and pays for the cannon and a fleet of airships.
- Lord WesterhamA soldier and landowner who raises men for the defense and gives Lennard the coal pit for his gun.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet, computer or Kindle, with the type as large as you like.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 10 h 55 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 10 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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Die Weltgefahr von 1910
by George Chetwynd Griffith · 1907
A duck hunt in Connemara turns into a swimming race, and one rival goes on to sell the Kaiser a weapon.
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In short
The World Peril of 1910 is an adventure novel by George Chetwynd Griffith, who died in 1906. It looks ahead to a great European war and to a danger from space, and it joins the two.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A swimming race sets two rivals apart
The story opens in Clifden, a town on the Connemara coast. John Castellan, an Irish student and inventor, sits at a drawing table covered with designs for a craft that can swim like a submarine and leap into the air like a flying fish. He is descended from a Spanish officer shipwrecked from the Armada nearly four hundred years before, and he hates England.
One day he goes out to shoot ducks. An Englishman with a fine gun kills the drake Castellan misses, and the two men meet on a spit of sand. Their talk is polite, but Castellan hates to fail even at small things.
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What is The World Peril of 1910 about?
It is about a European alliance that invades Britain with flying submarines built by an Irish inventor, while an astronomer discovers a comet that will destroy Earth and plans to stop it with a giant cannon.
Who is John Castellan?
John Castellan is an Irish inventor of Spanish descent who sells his Flying Fish to the German Emperor. He hates England, wants Irish independence, and has loved Auriole Parmenter since a swimming rescue.
What is the Ithuriel?
The Ithuriel is a British warship designed by Captain Erskine. She has no funnels, can sink until nearly awash, carries a huge ram and a suction screw, and can reach forty-five knots.
The author
George Chetwynd Griffith
1857–1906 · British science fiction writer
George Chetwynd Griffith was a British science fiction writer and explorer. He was born in Plymouth, England, in 1857 and died at Port Erin on the Isle of Man in 1906. His novels include The Angel of the Revolution, published in 1893, and A Honeymoon in Space, published in 1901.
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