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
- A mine, a gas, and a long sleep
- Rogers wakes in a changed America
- The Han hold the sky and the cities
- Wilma Deering and the forest fighters
- What the story is really about
- 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.
Formats and delivery
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- Large-print eBook
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- Audiobook
- 3 h 6 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
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- Paperback
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- Hardcover
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- 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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Read and hear Armageddon—2419 A.D. in 25 languages and switch at any time. Or read two side by side, paragraph by paragraph: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
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Armageddon—2419 A.D.
by Philip Francis Nowlan· 1928
A man wakes centuries later and joins America's resistance.
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Language: Italiano
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.
Down in the mine, Rogers is caught by a cave-in. He is cut off from the world, and he notices a gas in the air that glows faintly. The gas is radioactive, a word that was fairly new to the public when the story appeared. Rogers does not panic as badly as you might expect. He tries to work out what is happening to him, much as a trained soldier would study a battlefield.
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Questions about Armageddon—2419 A.D.
Can I read it free?
Yes. The beginning, from the first page to the end of chapter 1, and the first 5 minutes of the audiobook are free with no sign-up. Start free and the whole book is yours for 90 days, with the eBook to keep. After that, your first year is 50% off. You also get 200,000+ more classics and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print. Nothing to pay today: we email you 7 days before your first payment, and you can cancel online in two clicks.
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What if it is not for me?
Cancel online in two clicks at any time and nothing more is charged. If you have paid and the library is not for you, ask within 60 days of your first payment and we refund it in full.
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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