With the Night Mail: A story of 2000 AD [Paperback]

Rudyard Kipling (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1889298999 | ISBN-13: 978-1889298993 | Publication Date: December 1, 1998 0

Reprint of Kipling's delightful science fiction tale, first written in 1904, imagining a then-impossible overnight air flight from London to Canada, which takes place in December of the year 2000. Includes selections from the fictional air flight magazine in which Kipling described the risks, prices and social comedy of a flying world. Great gift for Kipling fans, science fiction readers, and anyone interested in the historical imagination.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

"With the Night Mail," first written in 1904, was one of Rudyard Kipling's rare "experiments" into science fiction. In this story Kipling imagined an overnight air flight from London to Quebec on December 14, 2000.

Kipling's imagined sky vessel is a cross between a smooth metal bird and a balloon with turbine engines. It runs on gas jets and wind power similar to the dirigible, the helium-gas balloon of Kipling's time. Unlike anything Kipling knew, it is propelled through space horizontally at lightning speed. Its pilots communicate with other air ships either by radio or - sometimes - simply opening the ship's windows to shout across the winds.

The present edition brings this long out-of-print story back into the hands of Kipling readers and science fiction fans everywhere. It include selections from the original "Arial Board of Control" periodical notices with which Kipling embellished his original account of twenty-first century aeronautics. As he does in his well-loved Kim, Jungle Book, and other stories and poems, Rudyard Kipling here takes the reader on a fantastic journey which is never out of date.

About the Author

Beloved turn-of-the (19th-20th) century author of such classic favorites as Kim, The Jungle Book, and many other titles. Kipling was an inveterate traveler who spent much of his youth journeying between England and India, and most of his adult life on a farm in Vermont.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 58 pages
• Publisher: Rhwymbooks (December 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1889298999
• ISBN-13: 978-1889298993
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,724,824 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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