Frank Stockton's The Great War Syndicate centers around steamship warfare in the late 19th century, between Great Britain and the United States war over fishing rights in the Atlantic Ocean. A group of billionaire capitalists, a War Syndicate, who offer to assume the expense of a war for the United States after a gunfight erupts between two...More
Frank Richard Stockton (April 5, 1834 – April 20, 1902) was an American writer and humorist, best known today for a series of innovative children's fairy tales that were widely popular during the last decades of the 19th century.
Stockton avoided the didactic moralizing common to children's stories of the time. Instead, he humorously poked fun at greed, violence, abuse of power and other human foibles, describing his fantastic characters' adventures in a charming, matter-of-fact way in his stories.
Like his contemporary Mark Twain, Stockton often pokes gentle fun at people's credulity and irrationality. Stockton's work of science fiction, The Great War Syndicate, describes a late 19th century British–American war. An American...More
Frank Richard Stockton (April 5, 1834 – April 20, 1902) was an American writer and humorist, best known today for a series of innovative children's fairy tales that were widely popular during the last decades of the 19th century.
Stockton avoided the didactic moralizing common to children's stories of the time. Instead, he humorously poked fun at greed, violence, abuse of power and other human foibles, describing his fantastic characters' adventures in a charming, matter-of-fact way in his stories.
Like his contemporary Mark Twain, Stockton often pokes gentle fun at people's credulity and irrationality. Stockton's work of science fiction, The Great War Syndicate, describes a late 19th century British–American war. An American syndicate made up of some of America's richest men and ablest scientists conducts the war on behalf of the United States.
Book Summary
Frank Stockton's The Great War Syndicate centers around steamship warfare in the late 19th century, between Great Britain and the United States war over fishing rights in the Atlantic Ocean. A group of billionaire capitalists, a War Syndicate, who offer to assume the expense of a war for the United States after a gunfight erupts between two vessels off the Canadian coast - "the American flag had been hauled down by Englishmen, an American naval vessel had been fired into and captured; that was enough!" It turns out that the syndicate has super weapons and stages, for observers from both sides, examples of how future wars are futile.