11 h 20 minAudiobook7 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
Europe’s armies stand ready, its trains wait, and the next great war exists only on the page.
The Great War of 189— imagines a European conflict and tells it as if it were history. Published in 1892, this early work of future war fiction brings together soldiers, journalists and military thinkers. Philip Howard Colomb, Archibald Forbes and John Frederick Maurice help turn firsthand knowledge into a forecast of how war might begin, spread and be fought.
Rival powers face one another across a Europe bound by treaties and old suspicions. Reserves must be called up, trains loaded and troops sent to the frontiers. At sea, fleets bring trade, coasts and ports into the struggle. Each contributor follows the field he knows best, making organisation and strategy—not a single hero—the centre of the story.
What you’ll discover
- War through expert eyes See how soldiers, naval writers and correspondents imagine a conflict still to come.
- Alliances under strain Explore a political map where treaties and old suspicions shape the prospect of war.
- The race to mobilise Follow the practical demands of calling up reserves and moving armies by rail.
- Beyond the land battle Discover how fleets and control of the seas draw ports and trade into conflict.
- An early imagined future Encounter future war fiction rooted in the weapons, armies and fears of its age.
Who will love it
Made for readers who enjoy war stories told as breaking news, fans of alternate history and early science fiction, and anyone curious how soldiers of the 1890s pictured the next great conflict on land and sea.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A dagger in Samakoff lights the fuse
- Serbia attacks and Austria seizes Belgrade
- Russia lands at Varna and Germany answers
- Paris roars and France declares war
- Britain takes Antwerp and the fleets meet
- Smokeless powder changes how armies fight
- Battles in Belgium and northern France
- Britain strikes across the world
- What the forecast says about war and readiness
Who’s who
- Prince Ferdinand of BulgariaThe young ruler wounded at Samakoff, whose attempted murder sets Europe on the road to war.
- StambuloffThe Bulgarian minister who becomes Regent and holds his country steady against Serbia and Russia.
- The German EmperorThe commander in chief who rides from the Russian front to the French border to meet the greater danger.
- General GourkoThe Russian hero of the Balkans who leads armies in Poland and tries to stop the German advance.
- General de GalliffetThe veteran French cavalry leader who commands the northern army along the eastern frontier as France prepares for war.
- Lord WolseleyThe British commander entrusted with the eastern expedition.
- Sir George TryonThe admiral in the Mediterranean who drills his captains for a battle against a larger French fleet.
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- Paperback
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- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
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- Large print hardcover
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The Great War of 189—
A dagger strikes Prince Ferdinand, and telegrams carry alarm across Europe.
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In short
What if a single dagger in a Balkan town could set the whole of Europe marching? The Great War of 189 is a made-up newspaper record of a future conflict, written by seven authors, among them Rear Admiral Philip Colomb, Colonel John Frederick Maurice, Archibald Forbes and Charles Lowe.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A dagger in Samakoff lights the fuse
The story opens with a telegram from Constantinople. Prince Ferdinand of Bulgaria has been attacked in the mining town of Samakoff, and Europe holds its breath.
The correspondent Francis Scudamore describes the scene in detail. A false priest aims a revolver that fails to fire, and a second man drives a Circassian dagger toward the Prince's chest. The Prince survives in the house of an American missionary, and both attackers carry Russian passports. Stambuloff, the strong minister, becomes Regent.
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What is The Great War of 189 about?
It is an imagined account of a future European war, told as newspaper dispatches. It begins with an attack on Prince Ferdinand of Bulgaria and follows the clash of alliances across land and sea.
Is The Great War of 189 a true story?
The war it describes never happened, but it shows how military experts of the time imagined the next conflict.
Who wrote The Great War of 189?
Seven writers share the work, including Rear Admiral P. Colomb, Colonel J. F. Maurice, Archibald Forbes and Charles Lowe. They tell the imagined war through reports, letters and speeches.
The author
Philip Howard Colomb
British admiral and naval writer
Philip Howard Colomb (1831–1899) was a British naval officer and writer. He was born in Scotland and served in the Royal Navy. His books included Naval Warfare (1891). He also contributed to The Great War of 189—, published in 1892. He died in Hampshire, England.
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