The Pattern Of Expectation, 1644-2001

I.F. Clarke is probably best known now for all his work on future war stories, such as The Tale of the Next Great War and The Great War With Germany, but this earlier, more general book on future fiction is the one we recommend. Visions of the future have long been a fundamental part of science fiction, and in this book Clarke identifies the first fiction about the future as a propaganda pamphlet produced during the English Civil War. From that unlikely beginning, he traces the tale of the future over the next three and a half centuries. It really is a textbook example of how to write a thorough analysis of one of the key strands in science fiction.   There are all sorts of studies of particular aspects of science fiction, on utopias (Utopia and Anti-Utopia by Krishan Kumar), on underground worlds (Subterranean Worlds by Peter Fitting), on prehistoric fiction (The Fire in the Stone by Nick Ruddick) and so on. But this has to be the best example of how to do it.