Share

26 used & new from $28.70

Deliver to France

See All Buying Options

Added to

Unable to add item to List. Please try again.

Sell yours for a Gift Card
We'll buy it for up to $3.74
Learn More
Trade in now

Have one to sell? Sell on Amazon

Flip to back Flip to front

Listen Playing... Paused You're listening to a sample of the Audible audio edition.
Learn more

See this image

Last and First Men and Star Maker : Two Science Fiction Novels Paperback – June 1, 1968

by Olaf Stapledon (Author)

218 customer reviews

See all 6 formats and editions Hide other formats and editions

Price

New from

Used from

"Please retry"

—

Paperback

"Please retry"

—

The greatest future histories in science fiction. In Last and First Men the protagonist is "mankind" in an ultimate definition — intelligence. Star Maker, in a sense its sequel, is concerned with the history of intelligence in the entire cosmos.

Customers who bought this item also bought

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1

This shopping feature will continue to load items. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading.

Olaf Stapledon

22

Paperback
$15.00
Samuel R. Delany

238

Paperback
$17.00
Stanislaw Lem

394

Paperback
$14.84
Michio Kaku

295

Paperback
$13.60
Thomas Pynchon

449

Paperback
$14.95
Michio Kaku

112

in Aeronautical Engineering
Hardcover
$17.18

Customers who viewed this item also viewed

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1

This shopping feature will continue to load items. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading.

Olaf Stapledon

218

Paperback
$11.95
Olaf Stapledon

218

Paperback
$14.95
Olaf Stapledon

218

Paperback
$11.95
Olaf Stapledon

22

Paperback
$15.00
Olaf Stapledon

9

Paperback
15 offers from $63.85
Olaf Stapledon

218

Paperback
$12.95

Sponsored products related to this item

Page 1 of 1Start overPage 1 of 1

Feedback

Ethan Jones

Javin Pierce is part Reach, part Bourne, and all action...A treasonous plot.An elusive drive.All of Europe at risk.Pierce is the Corrector...

83

Kindle Edition
$2.99
Feedback

David Lindsay

34

Paperback
$12.00
Feedback

Dima Zales

In a society where we no longer experience violence, disease, or emotion, am I ready to risk it all for a taste of freedom?

380

Kindle Edition
$3.99
Feedback

Peter Flannery

Battle Mage by Peter A. FlanneryHave you read it yet?Read this amazing fantasy adventure now!

1222

Kindle Edition
$3.99
Feedback

Matt Moss

Engaging characters, supernatural powers, and nail biting action fuel this epic fantasy novel between the Order and the Dark Society.

33

Kindle Edition
$0.99
Feedback

Stephen England

Four high-value targets. A single chance to strike. But as the moments tick down, the consequences for making the wrong call could be incalculable.

16

Kindle Edition
$2.99
Feedback

Warren Ray

His life changed instantly. Now he has to put it on the line. And he's in over his head. What would you do? Get this thriller now and find out.

51

Kindle Edition
$3.99

Product details

Paperback: 438 pages
Publisher: Dover Publications (June 1, 1968)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0486219623
ISBN-13: 978-0486219622
Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.8 x 8.5 inches
Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
Average Customer Review: 218 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #248,502 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #2625 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Thrillers & Suspense > Spies & Politics > Espionage
- #25451 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Mystery
- #37904 in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy

Would you like to tell us about a lower price?
If you are a seller for this product, would you like to suggest updates through seller support?

Be the first video

Your name here

Important information

Ingredients

Example Ingredients

Directions

Example Directions

Sponsored products related to this item

Page 1 of 1Start overPage 1 of 1

Feedback

Ethan Jones

Javin Pierce is part Reach, part Bourne, and all action...A treasonous plot.An elusive drive.All of Europe at risk.Pierce is the Corrector...

83

Kindle Edition
$2.99
Feedback

Peter Flannery

Battle Mage by Peter A. FlanneryHave you read it yet?Read this amazing fantasy adventure now!

1222

Kindle Edition
$3.99
Feedback

Matt Moss

Engaging characters, supernatural powers, and nail biting action fuel this epic fantasy novel between the Order and the Dark Society.

33

Kindle Edition
$0.99
Feedback

R. K. Thorne

A warrior prince, an enslaved mage, a heroic tale of adventure, love, and sacrifice.

216

Kindle Edition
$3.99
Feedback

David Lindsay

34

Paperback
$12.00
Feedback

David Estes

The best new fantasy series I’ve read in the last decade- Book-Absorbed Reviews

325

Kindle Edition
$3.99
Feedback

HN Wake

A fast-paced, intelligent thriller with a gusty female CIA agent in a daring cat-and-mouse game. For fans of Baldacci, Silva or Child.

48

Kindle Edition
$0.99

Customer reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars

Write a customer review

See all 218 customer reviews

Top customer reviews

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Warning: the Millennium Edition is a seriously changed/rewritten version of this book

May 30, 2015

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

I bought this book because I was interested in Stapledon's depiction of the possible future of humanity. I wasn't aware when I bought the 'Millennium Edition' that the entire section on the First Men- Stapledon's prediction of human society's development between 1930 and the eventual collapse into worldwide barbarism- had been completely rewritten to make it 'easier' for modern readers to digest without excessive disbelief. Yes, Stapledon's predictions of a League of Nations world power and the various wars in Europe and the unification of science and religion in the United States have no resemblance to the reality we've lived through so far, but so what? Part of the point of buying older books and reading older predictions is seeing what the authors of the past thought would shape the world of the future.

The Millennium Edition does warn readers about this rewrite in a small preface, but I didn't see the warning until after I'd bought the book. I hadn't thought I would need to check samples of the book to make sure I was getting what I wanted. I realize that I wrote a glowing review of The Night Land: A Story Retold, but there's a difference. The Night Land's original style was almost unreadable. (I tried. I tried so hard.) The Night Land: A Story Retold warned you *right in the title* of what you were getting. And The Night Land: A Story Retold may have removed several of the author's philosophical points, mostly having to do with Edwardian beliefs about gender roles persisting so far into the future that the Sun had gone out, but it didn't take a socialist writer's work and rewrite it to say that human civilization essentially collapsed because people refused to attempt to economically succeed on their own and fell into a leisure-induced society-wide coma, which is the impression one gets from the rewritten first chapter.

Long story short, I'd have appreciated more warning of the rewrite and what it entailed.

33 people found this helpful34 people found this helpful

Gratuitous rewrite of early chapters in this edition is a show stopper

August 4, 2018

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Four or five stars for Stapledon’s original masterpiece. One star for a gratuitous rewrite of the first few chapters in an attempt to make the work more palatable to modern readers. ZERO stars for listing this edition on Amazon with no indication that the early chapters have been (anonymously!) bastardized.

The rewrite of the early chapters ostensibly makes the more more palatable by ‘correcting’ Stapledon’s 1930 predictions to reflect actual events, and then extrapolating a 2015 vision of global and societal trends into the future far enough that the anonymous author’s and Stapledon’s timelines can once again intersect. In my opinion, as of 2018, this was a mistake of epic proportions.

Microscopic details from today’s op-ed pages become trends of millennial magnitude, totally ruining the grandeur and sweep of the original. And in today’s polarized world, any contemporary reader is going to be distracted by the author’s take on current events.

I would recommend avoiding this ‘Millenium Edition’ like the plague and tracking down the original. Unfortunately, the lack of transparency on the product page[s] makes that impossible at this time.

3 people found this helpful4 people found this helpful

"...to discover what part life and mind were actually playing among the stars."

September 26, 2015

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

I absolutely loved this. Plant people, composite minds, intelligent stars - and an exploration into some of life's biggest questions. This book is a history of the universe, told by an Englishman who mysteriously floats into the sky one night while contemplating its immensity. It does not contain many of the traditional elements of a novel. For example, there are not many "characters" in the traditional sense. But what it does have is a beautifully crafted series of interwoven alien histories, sci-fi-type hypotheses, and spiritual and philosophical musings.

One thing that surprised me is how specific some of the answers to these big questions get toward the end. It's not just some vague notion of the "unified spirit," it's much more detailed than that. I suspect that not all readers will like these answers, but I found them to be compelling and fascinating possibilities.

I also think this is a must read for any sci-fi fan. It was first published in 1937, at the dawn of sci-fi's Golden Age, making the ideas expressed all the more impressive and important. The final pages of the book tie its themes back to what was happening in Europe when it was written, which I found brilliant and poignant at the same time.

One technical note: apostrophes appear as "f"s and quotation marks appear as "g"s and "h"s in the Kindle version. This was not a problem for me once I got used to it, but if that sort of thing bothers you, you might want to get the paperback.

10 people found this helpful11 people found this helpful

What other items do customers buy after viewing this item?

Paperback

Olaf Stapledon

218

$11.95
Paperback

Olaf Stapledon

218

$14.95
Paperback

Olaf Stapledon

218

$11.95
Paperback

Olaf Stapledon

22

$15.00

English United States

Conditions of Use
Privacy Notice
Interest-Based Ads
© 1996-2018, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates