Last and First Men

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Last and First Men is a science fiction novel (or, rather, fictional history), written in 1930 by the British author Olaf Stapledon. A work of unprecedented scale, it describes the history of humanity from the present onwards across two billion years and eighteen distinct human species, of which our own is the first and most primitive. The story follows a repetitive cycle, with many different civilizations rising from and descending back into savagery, but it is also one of progress, as the later civilizations rise to far greater heights than the first. The book anticipates genetic engineering, and the idea of superminds composed of many telepathically-linked individuals.

A controversial part of the book depicts humans, in the far-off future, escaping the dying Earth and settling on Venus—in the process totally exterminating its native inhabitants, a marine intelligent species. Stapledon's book has been interpreted by some as condoning such interplanetary genocide as a justified act if necessary for racial survival, though a number of Stapledon's partisans denied that such was his intention. Instead, Stapledon was merely showing that although mankind had advanced in a number of ways in the future, at bottom it still possessed the same capacity for savagery as it has always had.

In 1932, Stapledon followed Last and First Men with the far less acclaimed Last Men in London. His other great novel, Star Maker (1937), could also be considered a sequel to Last and First Men, but is even more ambitious in scope, being a history of the entire universe.

1 Outline
2 Appearances in other media
3 External links
4 References

[edit] Outline

Balkan Europe
1. The European War and After
2. The Anglo-French War
3. Europe after the Anglo-French War
4. The Russo-German War
Europe's Downfall
1. Europe and America
2. The Origins of a Mystery
3. Europe Murdered
America and China
1. The Rivals
2. The Conflict
3. On an Island in the Pacific
An Americanized Planet
1. The Foundation of the First World State
2. The Dominance of Science
3. Material Advancement
4. The Culture of the First World State
5. Downfall
The Fall of the First Men
1. The First Dark Age
2. The Rise of Patagonia
3. The Cult of Youth
4. The Catastrophe
Transition
1. The First Men at Bay
2. The Second Dark Age
The Rise of the Second Men
1. The Appearance of a New Species
2. The Intercourse of Three Species
3. The Zenith of the Second Men
The Martians
1. The First Martian Invasion
2. Life on Mars
3. The Martian Mind
4. Delusions of the Martians
Earth and Mars
1. The Second Men at Bay
2. The Ruin of Two Worlds
3. The Third Dark Age
The Third Men in the Wilderness
1. The Third Human Species
2. Digressions of the Third Men
3. The Vital Art
4. Conflicting Policies
Man Remakes Himself
1. The First of the Great Brains
2. The Tragedy of the Fourth Men
3. The Fifth Men
4. The Culture of the Fifth Men
The Last Terrestrials
1. The Cult of Evanescence
2. Exploration of Time
3. Voyaging in Space
4. Preparing a New World
Humanity on Venus
1. Taking Root Again
2. The Flying Men
3. A Minor Astronomical Event
Neptune
1. Bird's Eye View
2. Da Capo
3. Slow Conquest
The Last Men
1. Introduction to the Last Human Species
2. Childhood and Maturity
3. A Racial Awakening
4. Cosmology
The Last of Man
1. Sentence of Death
2. Behaviour of the Condemned
3. Epilogue

[edit] Appearances in other media

The novel appears in the computer game Deus Ex as a reference when a corporation in the game allegedly tries to develop the Second Men in the series, but also in a much broader aspect as the game deals with genetic engineering, the next phase of evolution and human augmentations.

Also similar to the book are the options presented to the player as to where human kind will go next: a fall back into an almost savage state of humanity, or extreme progression with the danger of sacrificing basic rights.