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Armageddon—2419 A.D., paperbackPaperback · 6 × 9 in · 76 pages
Armageddon—2419 A.D., hardcoverHardcover · 6 × 9 in · 76 pages
About this book

What if you wake from a sleep in a mine to find your country conquered and its people hiding in forests?

Anthony Rogers enters an old mine as a surveyor and wakes almost five centuries later. It is 2419, and America is no longer the country he knows. In Philip Francis Nowlan’s science fiction adventure, the former officer finds a scattered people struggling to survive beneath the power of the Han, who command the cities and skies.

Among the forest fighters, Rogers meets Wilma Deering, a skilled scout who helps him understand this strange age. Rocket guns, jumping belts and airships reshape the battlefield. Yet the resistance needs more than weapons. Rogers brings his military experience to a struggle in which freedom depends on hidden bands learning how to fight back.

What you’ll discover

  • A hero’s first adventure Meet Anthony Rogers in the tale that begins the adventures of Buck Rogers.
  • A country turned strange Explore a future America where conquered cities stand apart from forests sheltering resistance fighters.
  • Wilma Deering in action Follow a trained fighter and scout who joins Rogers in the struggle.
  • Weapons that change warfare Discover rocket guns and belts that let fighters float above the ground.
  • A soldier’s direct account See the conflict through Rogers’s eyes as he weighs weapons, tactics and survival.

Is it for you?

This book suits readers who like early science fiction, adventure with weapons and tactics, or the roots of space heroes in popular culture. It may be less suited to anyone who wants rounded characters or modern attitudes toward race and gender.

What’s inside

The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary

  1. A mine, a gas, and a long sleep
  2. Rogers wakes in a changed America
  3. The Han hold the sky and the cities
  4. Wilma Deering and the forest fighters
  5. What the story is really about
  6. How the tale is told and why it lasted

Who’s who

  • Anthony RogersA former officer of the First World War who sleeps for almost five centuries and wakes to fight for a ruined America.
  • Wilma DeeringA young, skilled fighter and scout who helps Rogers understand the new age and joins him in the struggle.
  • The HanThe Mongol rulers of the future, who command the cities and the skies and hunt the free Americans in the forests.
  • The forest gangsBands of hidden Americans who train in secret, use rocket guns and jumping belts, and hope to win their country back.

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15-minute summary
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Paperback
6 × 9 in, 76 pages: 6,95 USD when you start free, 12,95 USD on its own.
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Large print paperback
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Large print hardcover
8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.

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25 languages, side by side

Science Fiction

Armageddon—2419 A.D.

by Philip Francis Nowlan· 1928

A man wakes centuries later and joins America's resistance.

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Armageddon—2419 A.D. by Philip Francis Nowlan, the cover

From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1 of 6

A mine, a gas, and a long sleep

The story opens in the late 1920s with Anthony Rogers telling his own tale. He is a former officer of the First World War, and he now works as a surveyor for a company that studies the air and rock in old mines. His task is to look into strange reports from some abandoned workings in Pennsylvania. Nowlan sets the scene in a plain, businesslike voice, as if Rogers were writing a report.

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The author

Philip Francis Nowlan

1888–1940 · American science fiction writer

Philip Francis Nowlan (1888–1940) was an American science fiction writer who lived in Philadelphia. His novella Armageddon—2419 A.D. appeared in 1928, followed by The Airlords of Han in 1929. He created Buck Rogers and wrote for the Buck Rogers newspaper comic strip, which began in 1929.

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What is Armageddon 2419 A.D. about?

It tells of Anthony Rogers, a man of 1927 who is put into a long sleep by a gas in a mine. He wakes in 2419 to find America overrun by foreign conquerors and joins the fight against them.

Is Armageddon 2419 A.D. the start of Buck Rogers?

Yes. Nowlan published it in Amazing Stories in 1928, and it introduced Anthony Rogers. The character was soon turned into Buck Rogers in a newspaper comic strip, then in radio, film and television.

Who are the Han in Armageddon 2419 A.D.?

The Han are Mongol conquerors who rule the future United States from sealed cities and airships. They reflect fears of a foreign threat that were common in popular fiction of the 1920s.

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