The Man With the Strange Head and Other Early Science Fiction Stories

Gathered here for the first time are Miles J. Breuer’s first publication, “The Man with the Strange Head”; his neglected dystopian novel Paradise and Iron (appearing here in book form for the first time); stories such as “Gostak and the Doshes” and “Mechanocracy”; and Breuer’s essay “The Future of Scientifiction,” one of the early critical statements of the genre. Also included are some of the author’s letters from the Discussions column of Amazing Stories.
 
Much of what we know as science fiction saw the light—and found its themes, styles, and modes—in the science fiction magazines of the early twentieth century. It was in these magazines of the 1920s and 1930s that Breuer often led the way. Breuer himself found his inspiration in the work of H. G. Wells and in turn influenced science fiction masters from Jack Williamson to Robert A. Heinlein. The Man with the Strange Head and Other Early Science Fiction Stories collects the best work of this pioneer of the genre.

Miles J. Breuer (1889–1945) was a prominent physician in Lincoln, Nebraska, and a pioneer writer of science fiction for magazines in the 1920s and 1930s. Michael R. Page received his PhD in English from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. He teaches courses in nineteenth-century British literature and in science fiction and his work has appeared in scholarly journals.