Tsar Wars Episode One: Angel of the Revolution

by George Chetwynd Griffith

An Evil Emperor. A Titanic Struggle. Daring Rescues. Flying Ships. Mind Control. A Small Band Of Rebels Led By A Beautiful Woman. When young inventor Richard Arnold cracks the problem of heavier than air flight in 1903, his discovery becomes the key tool of The Brotherhood Of Freedom, a worldwide rebellion against society, focused against the cruelties of the Russian Tsar. Arnold soon falls under the spell of Natasha, known within The Brotherhood as The Angel Of The Revolution, and uses his airships in daring rescues, flights of exploration, and key battles in the World War between the Anglo- Teutonic Alliance (Britain, Austria, and Germany) and the Fraco-Slavonic League (France, Russia, and Italy). Originally published serially in Pearson's Magazine in 1893, Tower published the novel form in 1894 with the title The Angel Of The A Tale Of The Coming Terror. This edition has reset the text, but retained every word and illustration from the Tower editions.

Genres: Science Fiction, Steampunk, Fiction, Fantasy, Victorian, Adventure, Classics

Paperback

First published January 1, 1894

About the author

George Griffith (1857 – 1906), full name George Chetwynd Griffith-Jones, was a prolific British science fiction writer and noted explorer who wrote during the late Victorian and Edwardian age. Many of his visionary tales appeared in magazines such as Pearson's Magazine and Pearson's Weekly before being published as novels. Griffith was extremely popular in the United Kingdom, though he failed to find similar acclaim in the United States, in part due to his revolutionary and socialist views. A journalist, rather than scientist, by background, what his stories lack in scientific rigour and literary grace they make up for in sheer exuberance of execution.

Reviews

[J.G. Keely · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one didn't hold up very well for me. Moorcock's update of the idea is a much more enjoyable read. Griffith's approach is just so juvenile much of the time--which isn't to say childish, it's more of a young man's immaturity.

The whole premise: that a powerful terrorist force is trying to destroy all world governments is somewhat uncomfortable for a modern reader--and the fact that the terrorists are meant to be the heroes brings it to another level. However, their rebellion is a vague, nonsensical thing. The idea seems to be to destroy society, and not to worry about what the next step is until later.

I guess they've never heard of the 'baby with the bathwater' problem. I mean sure, society has lots of problems, but if you don't have something better to put in its place, then tearing it down is not going to solve anything--it's probably going to make things pretty shitty in the meantime. But then, it strikes one as being typical of a man in young adulthood: irate with the horrors and inequalities of the world, rebelling against anything society has to offer without really understanding why things are the way they are.

But conveniently, everyone just signs up and agrees that this is a great plan. There are no ideological disagreements or concerns about where this whole thing is going--everyone is stalwartly devoted to the undefined cause, and willing to die for it (whatever it might be).

There are actually a few members who betray the cause, but they always do it out of mere greed, not because this whole 'terrorism' things seems kinda shaky. They also rebel despite the fact that the terrorists have an infallible network of assassins, the only airships in the world, and a leader who can literally control men's minds with a thought. All betrayers die the same chapter in which they commit their betrayal.

I mean, I understand that this was a serial, but the fact that every problem gets solved as soon as it's introduced means that the whole thing doesn't have as much continuity as it might. Indeed, for the whole first half, they're just hanging around, waiting for things to happen, not even putting their plan into action.

Now, if this had been juvenile in a sort of fun, adventure way, that could have been enjoyable, but it's clear that Griffith is taking it a bit more seriously than is warranted. It's never a battle with a fleet of ships, it's always two destroyers, five torpedo boats, a complement of three thousand men, &c. Then there are all the wire telegrams and news stories that repeat information we already know, or just talk about various battles and parts of the war that don's seem to matter much to the story.

Then, of course, there is the titular 'Angel of the Revolution' herself, a totally gorgeous teen girl who all the terrorists want to marry, but whom they respect too much to romance overtly. She's also a crack shot, and utterly loyal to the cause, even if it means (horror of horrors) marrying someone she doesn't love. Our superscience hero, of course, does everything he can to get her, until she finally tells him that the best way to get into her pants is to destroy society and create eternal peace. Sexy.

Once again, what could have been a passable adventure story is ruined by the author's inane attempts to make it 'realistic' and fill it with all sort of unrelated details. It doesn't take much seriousness to ruin the guileless charm of a pulp romp.

[Horza]

Well that went places I wasn’t expecting. Review forthcoming.

SIX WEEKS PASS

Yeah, so, this was on my radar because Mazower briefly describes it as a vision of world peace through air power in his excellent Governing the World, where airships in the hands of revolutionaries enforce world peace on the great powers of Europe. That bit does happen, but it's sort of amazing that Mazower and others describe Griffith as 'socialist-inclined' because there's something else going on in this book that really caught me by surprise.

This is a synopsis:

In the far future year of 1903 a dweeby inventor discovers powered flight and also super explosive shells. By chance he is propositioned by a revolutionary spy and inducted into a terrorist secret society (The Terrorists) lead by 'The Master' aka the mysterious Natas (get it?) and his smokeshow daughter Natasha. They're mostly Russian Jews and socialists and really really have it out for the Tsar. Extremely chastely and chivalrously horny for this titular goddess of revolution our drip hero pledges to overthrow reaction to win her love. They plot to spark a war between the Franco-Russian alliance (whom have zepplins but not airships) and the Triple Alliance plus England, during which the Terrorists will make a base in this really nice pristine bit of Africa they found (thereby avoiding having to resolve their egalitarianism with the need for indigenous land and labour) and then take over all of North America and then swoop down with super airships and crush the great powers.

In the remaining two thirds of the book everything goes to plan and the goodies win.

Ok, fine. It's 19th century pulp sci-fi, whaddaya expect?

Well, something happens around about midway through the book. There's a little chat between the horribly maimed and deformed Natas and his main lieutenant in which we learn that Natas for no explicable reason has mind control powers and has been puppeteering this guy (don't worry, he's basically OK with it), but also that the main strategy of Natas's plan is to empower the Anglo-Saxon race to take its leading role as the decisive force in world history. Which has to happen soon because apparently just off-stage Asia is wracked by a vast conflict between Muslims and Buddhists (you know, the two types of Asian), the winner of which will be in a position to swamp and defeat divided reactionary Europe, against which only the united genius of the Anglo-Saxon peoples can prevail. This changes the political complexion of the book just a tad, if you ask me.

I'd been wondering about the character of Natas, because he and the Terrorists throughout the book were pitch-perfect Protocols of the Elders of Zion characters, a few years avant la lettre. This was obviously Griffith having some fun (the book otherwise painfully humourless) at the expense of his loathed Tsar but now this satirical reactionary boogeyman reveals himself to be working with Wells and Verne's air machines to do the work of... Oswald Spengler?!

I spent the rest of the book trying to work out if I'd got this wrong, poring through the awful melodramatic dialogue, painfully dull protagonists and schoolyard level war plot (like all early air-power dudes Griffiths can't conceive of any adaptation or countermeasures to the zeppelin menace - not even for the purpose of an interesting story - so the Franco-Russians win every single battle and ultimately capture London) for some hint of parody but Griffiths plays a dead bat throughout.

This culminates at the end of the book where, in a coda after our heroes have sent the Romanovs to the Siberian wastes, told the Kaiser and Hapsburg Emperor to go back to the drawing board with this democracy business and uh, placed Turkey under the rule of this huge sack of shit they get down to dealing with the victors of that big Asiatic struggle, you know the one. It turns out this means luring the Sultan of uh... Asia? and his African allies into the Dardanelles and, well, you read it:

No reply came back; but during the night the dynamite cruisers were drawn up within half a mile of the Asiatic shore with their guns pointing southward over Scutari, while other warships patrolled the coast to detect and frustrate any attempt to transport guns or troops across the narrow strip of water. With the first glimmer of light, the two aërial fleets took the air, the war-balloons in a long line over the van of the Moslem army, and the air-ships spread out in a semicircle to the southward. The hour of prayer was allowed to pass in peace, and then the work of death began. The war-balloons moved slowly forward in a straight line at an elevation of four thousand feet, sweeping the Moslem host from van to rear with a ceaseless hail of melinite and cyanogen bombs. Great projectiles soared silently up from the water to the north, and where they fell buildings were torn to fragments, great holes were blasted into the earth, and every human being within the radius of the explosion was blown to pieces, or hurled stunned to the ground. But more mysterious and terrible than all were the effects of the assault delivered by the air-ships, which [Pg 391] divided into squadrons and swept hither and thither in wide curves, with the sunlight shining on their silvery hulls and their long slender guns, smokeless and flameless, hurling the most awful missiles of all far and wide, over a scene of butchery and horror that beggared all description.

In vain the gallant Moslems looked for enemies in the flesh to confront them. None appeared save a few sentinels across the Bosphorus. And still the work of slaughter went on, pitiless and passionless as the earthquake or the thunderstorm. Millions of shots were fired into the air without result, and by the time the rain of death had been falling without intermission for two hours, an irresistible panic fell upon the Moslem soldiery. They had never met enemies like these before, and, brave as lions and yet simple as children, they looked upon them as something more than human, and with one accord they flung away their weapons and raised their hands in supplication to the sky. Instantly the aërial bombardment ceased, and within an hour East and West had shaken hands, Sultan Mohammed had accepted the terms of the Federation, and the long warfare of Cross and Crescent had ceased, as men hoped, for ever.

Our heroes, ladies and gentlemen!

A real three-in-one: Conradian spy thriller, Wellsian Aero-utopia and high imperialist tale of racial triumph. All narrated with about the same level of stodgy, artless Victorian exposition. And it's free to read on Project Gutenberg! What are you waiting for?

[Gold Dust · Rating 2 out of 5]

A book that was more political than science fiction. More like Iron Heel by Jack London than anything by H.G. Wells. I didn’t agree with the socialist politics, but it was more interesting to read than pure science fiction. I give it points for having pictures too. Still the book was mostly boring. Things went according to plan too often. There was not much of a struggle.

Natasha was first portrayed as a strong woman, filled with determination to fulfill her group’s mission. And so it seems out of character that she would want to become submissive to a man so easily as she did (113). And a man so much older than herself, a newcomer to the group. It also seemed unrealistic that the newcomer was given so much power within the group so quickly. He had an invention they wanted, but that shouldn’t mean that he should be trusted so easily.

I wonder if it was intentional that the name of Natasha’s father was Natas. I can see the similarity between that and Natasha, however I also see that it’s Satan spelled backwards. One of the airships was called Lucifer (201), and the war they waged was referred to as Armageddon (339). So I wonder if this story was meant to be a metaphorical war between Satan (Natas) and God (the Tsar). Natas seemed to have some supernatural power to control Tremayne against his will and show him visions (148). I didn’t like that it was never explained how Natas got this power.

Maurice Colston is a socialist who thinks it wrong that he should be wealthy since he did nothing to deserve it, only inherited it (12). If he truly felt he didn’t deserve his wealth, that would be easy enough to rectify: simply move out, taking none of your father’s money, and get a job.

The Terrorist group has an inner circle and an outer circle. The outer circle “will not understand your orders, but simply obey them blindly, even to the death” (20). Blind obedience is a good thing?

Richard Arnold is the main character. He says, “I think that the civilised and Christian society which permits such crimes to be committed against humanity, when it has the power to stop them by force of arms is neither truly civilized nor truly Christian” (31). And he would stop them if he could, even “if it cost the lives of millions to do it! They would be better spent than the thirty million lives that were lost last century over a few bits of territory” (31). Socialists are such idealists to think that only capitalism is capable of atrocities. History has proven that socialism/communism is just as guilty of murdering people and taking over “a few bits of territory.” Communist Russia murdered many, and communist China currently has uygers in concentration camps and has its Chinese population overworked and underpaid in factories. The workers are no more in charge there than they are in a capitalist society. And they are much less free there than here in the US.

“Your subjects have starved, while you and yours have feasted. You have lavished millions in vain display upon your palaces, while they have died in their hovels for lack of bread; and when men have asked you for freedom and justice, you have given them the knout, the chain, and the prison” (360). All of those things are true of the communist rulers of Russia and China. Wealth and power corrupt people. The only way to stop government from abusing the citizens is to have checks and balances, and government officials elected by the citizens. The only country I know of that comes closest to that is the US. But the terrorists destroy the US constitution, despite it having nothing oppressing about it (280).

It would’ve been more interesting of a story if the inventor of the airship were not politically aligned with Natas, and if Natas’ victory came earlier in the book and we got to see more of the society that came about after that victory, and that it didn’t go as planned. It also would’ve been more interesting if we readers had seen the actual suffering caused by the monarchs/capitalists earlier in the book so we could feel more sympathy for the terrorists and root for their success.

Socialism/communism is like gentle discipline; it sounds nice in theory, but it doesn’t work in reality.

Richard Arnold’s “qualities would have been quite sufficient to assure his success in life on conventional lines. They would have made him rich, and perhaps famous, but they would never have made him a great inventor; for no one can do anything really great who is not a dreamer as well as a worker” (54).
In capitalism, inventing things is permitted and rewarded. In communism, all workers are to do what they are told to do in a factory setting. Entrepreneurship and therefore invention are not allowed. Nobody is allowed to profit. Everyone is a proletariat. So in a communist society, Richard Arnold would not have successful. The communist government would probably confiscate his invention, use it the way they like, and give him nothing in return. He would have done his duty for the community and would be treated no differently. Because equality. He would be forced to return to his work at the factory, and likely viewed with suspicion ever after for having an intelligent mind. (The government would fear that a person capable of such intelligence and invention could create something which would threaten the current regime staying in power.) Profit is the main motivator to success, and so without profit potential, people are not motivated to work hard or invent anything new. Slaves earn no money, and therefore have to be whipped in order to be motivated to work hard. In communism, we all become slaves, and the government must become authoritarian to stay in power. Privileged young people living in capitalism think they’re helping the poor by eliminating profit and forcing wealthy CEOs to work, but communism just makes everyone equally poor, except for the elites running the government. The government still profits, as all earnings flow to them instead of business owners. Under a bad boss, you can quit and get another job. But under a bad government that controls every business, you cannot escape unless you leave the country and therefore leave communism. It makes sense then that most communist countries in reality don’t allow their citizens to leave the country easily. Because they know that their form of government makes their people unhappy, and if they were allowed to leave, hardly anyone would stay, and the whole society would fall apart with no large worker base to feed the government’s wealth.

The terrorists/communists think they’re doing poor people a favor when they get rid of landowners and landlords, making the latter work for their money instead of earning profit passively (387). But all communists do is turn the government into the landowner and landlord, preventing regular everyday people from becoming rich. And instead of having a handful of rich landowners sprinkled around the city/country, you get the super rich government controlling every piece of land and property. And communists think that that kind of power and wealth will not corrupt?
“All incomes unearned by productive work of hand or brain were subjected to a progressive tax” (387). So government gets to collect more passive profit? Why does government deserve all this money for nothing? So they can dole out freebies to the citizens? And where is the citizens’ guarantee that the government will do its duty with all that money?

The honeymoon is described as absurd and self-centered seclusion (384). So I guess communists think it’s wrong to want to be alone sometimes.

Natas says that pride and selfishness are the reason nations are divided, but communism ruling all the western countries supposedly eliminates that problem because the communist rulers have “the fate of humanity in their hands and the wealth of earth at their disposal, [so] it will be impossible to tempt them with bribes, either of riches or of power, from the plain course of duty which will lie before them” (363). History has again proven this false. Almost every person who is wealthy and powerful is unable to stop wanting more wealth and power.

The book had strong English supremacist ideas. The English are described as “the dominant race of earth,” “the conquering race of earth, and the choicest fruit” (362, 146). The English woman is described as “perhaps the most truly lovable of all women on earth” (373). Nearly all of the terrorist members were English in blood and speech (269). The terrorists was “not merely to place Britain in the first place among the nations, but to make the Anglo-Saxon race the one dominant power in the whole world” (284). Natas was leading the terrorists in this mission, despite the fact that Natas was not even English. He was Jewish, and had a personal vendetta against Russia. But that doesn’t explain why he would want the English to reign over the whole world.

It’s unrealistic and foolish to think that just because the Terrorists possess the airships that that will end war forever (284). The power might fall into enemy hands one day, just as nuclear bombs did. And just because one country controls all others doesn’t mean peace will last forever either, especially with these racial superiority feelings being prevalent. Non-English would be bullied or discriminated against by the English, which would cause resentment and wanting to get revenge, which can lead to war. And some people want to be alone and not have government controlling every aspect of their lives. Karl Marx thought class struggle was inevitable. Well, when government becomes the sole wealthy landlord and landowner, all that does is shift the struggle to being between the citizens and their government. And that’s why communist governments always get crazy with their surveillance and control and harsh penalties, because if they lose control, they lose power and all the wealth that goes along with it.

[Norman Cook · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was published in 1893 and fairly accurately predicted the invention of heavier-than-air vehicles in the early 1900s, although the planes were more like modern helicopters than the modified gliders that the Wrights first developed. Nevertheless, I found the description of the airplane’s design pretty remarkable. The propulsion was by a reaction of two unspecified gasses, which is really a rocket motor, but it is certainly possible. The airplanes were unrealistically capable of sustained flight of many hours, but otherwise the plot would have come to a complete stop at several points.

The book also predicted world war in Europe caused primarily by class struggles, albeit about a decade earlier than what actually happened, and with England allied with Germany and France allied with Russia. The heroes of the book are socialists lead by a mysterious figure known as Natas (was it deliberate that this is Satan spelled backwards?) who is driven by an obsession to return control of the world to Anglo-Saxons. Griffith seemed to think that airplanes were sufficiently difficult to produce that no other entity would have them, thus giving their owners vast military superiority. The socialists use their air power to essentially wipe out all opposing forces and install a world government. The socialists are pretty ruthless in their decimation, purporting that only by doing so can they instill the true horrors of war in people so that no wars will ever be fought again.

Griffith describes the United States government as follows:
“…Representative government in America had by this time become a complete sham. The whole political machinery and internal resources of the United States were now virtually at the command of a great Ring of capitalists who, through the medium of the huge monopolies which they controlled, and the enormous sums of money at their command, held the country in the hollow of their hand. These men were as totally devoid of all human feeling or public sentiment as it was possible for human beings to be. They had grown rich in virtue of their contempt of every principle of justice and mercy, and they had no other object in life than to still further increase their gigantic hoards of wealth, and to multiply the enormous powers which they already wielded. The then condition of affairs in Europe had presented them with such an opportunity as no other combination of circumstances could have given them, and ignoring, as such wretches would naturally do, all ties of blood and kindred speech, they had determined to take advantage of the situation to the utmost.”
So I guess nothing has changed in over 100 years!

The book is fairly fast-paced and although there are a few clunky expository sections, I thought it was fairly modern in its use of grammar and organization.

[Adam · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was bonkers. A pre-WWI author trying to imagine what a World War would look like. And he gets so much right, which is pretty eerie. More people should have read this pre-1914.

Including.....

- Cascading military alliance treaties entangling the whole continent

-The main sides: France-Russia-Italy vs Germany-Austria-Turkey

-The scope/brutality of the war; death tolls in the millions

-How much airpower would change war- especially in making naval defenses next to useless

-Communists taking advantage of the chaos to take power

-Britain's vulnerability to starvation by blockade being a major arena of war

-The post-war consensus vowing to create an international agency to regulate world peace after
"the war to end all war"

Other things they get very wrong, such as Russia being vaguely competent at war, the non- existence of trench war warfare, the Anglo-German friendliness, and the Asian war subplot. But all things considering this is an eerie portrait of what would actually come.

Despite the richly imagined setting, the main characters were all annoying Mary Sues that were always right, and the sloppy unnuanced utopian politics were grating.

[Stephen Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

An early example of a genre known, apparently, as"invasion fiction", this is a mix of early sf and political polemic. It's very much of its time, with airships regarded as the weapon that would make their possessor unbeatable and future war impossible. The idea of an Anglo-Saxon alliance being the natural and inevitable noble leadership of the world, having beaten the Eastern Peril of the Slavic races and the hordes of the Mohometans and Hindoos reads incongruously and uncomfortably to modern eyes. Remarkably for its time, though, not only is one of its leading protagonists Jewish and on the side of good, the issue of mixed faith marriages is also treated positively. The language is mannered, but no more so than many of its contemporaries

[Neil · Rating 5 out of 5]

I hadn't read any Griffith before and found this a very interesting work in comparison with other SF novels of the 1890s and early 1900s, such as _The Time Machine_ and _The Purple Cloud_. Griffith is very interested in ships, how they work, and the advantages that they provide, so a lot of this is somewhat technical, but I still was fascinated by the progress of the story and the fact that the protagonists form a group called the "Terrorists" in order to defeat the Tsar and all that he stands for. I wouldn't recommend this for everyone, but if you like Wells and Shiel and are interested in the early roots of British SF, then this would be worthwhile. I do plan to read the apocalyptic sequel, _Olga Romanoff_, but I haven't gotten around to it yet.

[mica · Rating 1 out of 5]

Soooooo, THIS BOOK. Why did I read it?

I'd sum this plot up as "PEACE THROUGH CONQUEST", which sounds like it could be irony or satire, but if this book was meant to be satirical, I think it failed. I suppose I shouldn't judge it too harshly - after all, Griffith couldn't know how the 20th century would play out regarding "wars to end all wars" and revolutions tearing down authoritarian regimes only to be replaced with even more authoritarianism.

My summary: A genius engineer has designed the ULTIMATE air ship (the illustrations of these ships are pretty good), which would be the final word in any and all weapons. Sadly, he realizes he's completely out of money and cannot afford to get his design to anyone, plus, he'd really rather the authoritarian Tsar or Russia not get it, so he goes to kill himself, but he is waylaid by another dude, who introduces him to the Brotherhood of the Revolution, aka the Terrorists (they're the good guys), and his design essentially gives them these ships because the world sucks anyway, and they want to fix it. They design the ships, Europe collapses into an AU World War I, where England/Germany fight Russia/France/Italy. Russia, which is the "big bad" of this book, all but conquers England and the rest of Europe. Meanwhile, Terrorist operatives in the US and Canada revolt and establish a united Anglo-Saxon Federation (manifest destiny, puke) and the Terrorists in-group have established their own colony in Africa. The Terrorists defeat the Russian armies surrounding London at the 11th hour on condition of the King of England's surrender to the Terrorists (though not his abdication) and thereby establish "peace" in Europe, and unify all of US, Canada and Europe into one nightmarish Federation.

Oh, and also the daughter of the leader of the revolution, Natasha, daughter of Natas is an 18 year old beauty who has dedicated her life to the movement, is a leader of revolution, is a great shot, a true believer in the revolution, beautiful beyond all measure, and yet, once revolution is accomplished, a perfect mother. Gawd, Victorians fantasies about women were gross.

Firstly, as a person who has lived more than half their life in post 9-11 North America, it is extremely, extremely weird to read a book that so completely reveres and romanticizes terrorism. I would also like to mention that these revolutionary-terrorist heroes are surprisingly numerous, powerful and well-funded, even for fictional terrorists. I hated them like I tend to hate Superman-style superheroes - they are too damn powerful and I find that incredibly boring. And, again, literally, the terrorist group is so numerous that they probably could have fucking created the change they wanted by going on strike before using their super weapons on other humans, although, then we might have missed the rivetting descriptions of one-sided battles.

Secondly, this book is racist AF. It definitely subscribes to eugenicist thoughts, and despite the fact that it purports to be interested in creating WORLD peace, it pretty much just means, you know, Europe and North America. The "good guys" (honestly, debatable) establish their ethnostate in Africa, and the Epilogue off-handedly describes Muslims defeating Buddhists and then our protagonists conquering the last Muslim army with their superweapons. So, you know, "World Peace", as governed by a group of white supremacist terrorists who literally designed a superweapon.

[Steve Joyce · Rating 3 out of 5]

Apparently this is Griffith's first and signature s.f. novel. It certainly is full of interesting concepts both high and low: war to end all wars, a progressive income tax, the intrigue of underground revolutionaries, aerial warships, international politics, advanced explosives and more.

There are references to Verne (not too surprising considering the similarities to several of the Frenchman's novels) and one character is named Roburoff (wonder where Griffith got that one?). As for the head honcho of the revolutionaires, he's named Natas ("Satan" spelled backwards) who has the power to control mens' will at a single glance.

The Angel of the Revolution also features imaginary battles (lots of imaginary battles!) which might be of interest to staunch students of military history.

Despite the varied elements and historical import, it makes for a read that's, well, rather boring. It's as though Griffith captured the essence in written form of someone speaking in monotone. His style strikes me as akin to that of a stenographer taking meeting minutes...only wordier.

The edition that I read features an excellent intro, useful footnotes and illuminating appendix material prepared by Steven McLean.

I got something out of reading The Angel of the Revolution, I suppose, but it took work.

[Kamakana · Rating 2 out of 5]

110815: this is an uneven read. book alternates between rapturous science fiction technology of its day 1894, and characterization and romance of popular expression, that is, stereotypes, obviousness, emotional cliches- and naive politics, socialist fervour not deeply thought out, racism and eurocentrism (something called Anglo-Saxon race is bestest best), with extensive, excited battle description. no one here actually talks: tendency to declaim unironically in personal as much as political. definite anti-capitalism, anti-monarchical, anti-Imperialism, anti-everything-authoritarianism... except for this conspiracy of noble heroes, otherwise known as the 'terrorists'. all rendered in heavy, adjectival, mundane prose. this was a bestseller of its day but does not age well. illustrations in this edition show something between helicopters, rockets, and ocean-going ships- i liked these, though not well done, descriptive but not expressive. i read this, trying to figure out contemporary similar works, for those who remember the '80s, the answer is clear: this is in some ways the Tom Clancy of 1894...

[Scott Kinkade · Rating 3 out of 5]

The plot concerns Richard Arnold, a young man in England at the beginning of the 20th century who devotes his life to creating the world's first fully functional airship. After years of effort, he finally succeeds, but at the expense of everything else in his life, to the point that he finds himself broke and about to be thrown out of his home. Fortunately, his invention comes to the attention of the Brotherhood--or as they are more commonly known, the Terrorists--a revolutionary group dedicated to nothing less than the complete breaking down of society in order to rebuild it according to the will of their leader, the mysterious Natas. Arnold soon agrees to join the Terrorists and build airships for them in order to achieve their common dream of peace on earth through military intervention. You see, they are determined to bring overwhelming force to bear against the nations of the world to make them play nice (this should be familiar to anyone who has seen the anime Gundam 00).

The Terrorists are aptly named, as they use the brutal power of Arnold's weaponry to make a very blunt point about the nature of war. Even though their main nemesis is the ruthless Tsar of Russia, who is waging a vicious war for control of Europe and Great Britain and to whom they show very little mercy, I often found myself wondering just who was the lesser evil. As the Terrorists rain horrendous death and destruction upon their despotic enemies, you start to question who you want to see win the war.

Speaking of war, the strange thing about this story is just how little actual conflict Arnold and his friends face. Once he builds the airship fleet for the Terrorists, there is rarely any doubt as to their chances of victory. They frequently storm the battlefield with such overwhelming firepower that you know they're going to win every time. The only real conflict for Arnold is his desire to win the hand of the fair Natasha (Natas' daughter), whose hand seems unattainable at first but the problem actually resolves itself without too much trouble.

Nevertheless, George Griffith has painstakingly crafted a believable story of war. In fact, he spends a great deal of time detailing the movements and military strengths of the various sides of the war. Despite the lack of challenge the protagonist faces in his journey from penniless genius to undisputed master of the skies, the book becomes harder and harder to put down as it goes along. You want to find out the secret of Natas and his strange power, and how the Terrorists came to be, and so you keep reading. Also, there are numerous detailed pictures that help bring Griffith's world into sharper focus.

All in all, I recommend all steampunk fans read The Angel of the Revolution. I just hope the second book in the series has more conflict.

[Rachel Humphrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a random pull from a free e-reader because I liked the title of the book. That being said, this was a very interesting, albeit tedious at times, read with a high arcing story-line that depicts the world falling into world war during the early 1900's thanks to an independent terrorist military group's discovery of a young genius and his amazing invention of the flying machine.


This story, written in 1893, is a horror story, of sorts. Perhaps dread would be a better word. I found myself glum as the bad guys have solid leaders. The bad guys find the key to victory. The bad guys win all the battles. I keep holding onto hope that the allies will rally and defeat them. The bad guys finally crush the last standing country (Britain) and rule the world. Thousands of men die in this world war. The bad guys don't care, for them, this is the war to end all wars. They will end all wars by having complete dominance. They will create a utopia through the blood of men. This story almost lines up with the actual first world war of 1914, the story starts in 1903. The bad guys, the Brotherhood, are completely logically sound nihilists, anarchists and socialists, the worst kind, because they fully commit and believe in their dreams. Did George Griffith see it coming?

I found it completely intriguing to read about these air-machines as the author's time period only contained the limited dirigibles. His imaginary airships were the opposite of real life dirigibles, his were maneuverable, fast and clever with actual firepower. The characters are not as fully developed as they could be, this story in interesting to read but it's not the best written novel ever. That being said, I do think it's worth a read.

[Nate · Rating 3 out of 5]

way too long, and rather dumb in a lot of places, but also pretty fun in others. could have used a good editor

[Wreade1872 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Set in 1903, a world war approaches and an international group of terrorists mean to take advantage of the situation after getting their hands on a new form of combustion, which finally solves the problem of powered flight.
This is pretty prophetic in some ways, it combines the devastation of machine warfare realized in the first World War with the speed of machine warfare realized in the Second.
George Griffith it has to be said, isn't a particularly good writer. His writing tends to be quite plain and pulpy, its not bad, but its by no means spectacular.
He does however have two things going for him. One is a great imagination, and the other is his love of strong female characters, which is pretty unusual for the time.
Apart from the fact its hard to like anyone in this story as they're all gradations of evil from a modern perspective, the other major flaw is the racism in favour of anglo-saxons. Which is all the more remarkable given that most of the main characters are russian. Still i suppose it's no more racist than Star-Trek and every other sci-fi show in which the entire world appears to be ruled by white english speakers.
A very interesting plot, i am planning on reading the sequel.

[Rich Humes · Rating 2 out of 5]

I almost gave it a third star out of pity. It was interesting at points, but never anything special.

I can ignore the laughable, utopian characterization of socialism because it was a common product of stories at the time.

What's less forgivable is the lack of depth to these characters. Did anyone care about any of them? The book was long enough to make the characters something other than cold robots, but nope.

Even when there was an attempt at passion the characters just ended up being automatons.

I usually want some sort of prescience in these types of stories, but this one really misses the mark.

Air war would end war? That couldn't have been more wrong.

Socialism as the great protector of freedom? History did not prove that true.

I really wanted to like it, but it just wasn't interesting, logical, or prescient.

[Ernest Hogan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Published in 1893, taking place in 1904, this prototype for steampunk isn't a great novel, but is remarkable for it's bizarre politics. The hero invents an airship, joins the Terrorists, saves his lady love from the Russians, and soon the a worldwide air war breaks out. He also helps his Terrorists brothers with their island utopia, then is gets into an interesting exposé or European white-only racism: Out of the chaos, an Anglo-Saxon Federation is formed, forcing the barbaric European races into peace at gunpoint, then on to the rest of the world. The Angel of the title turns out to be half-Russian, but with a proper English mum, so it's alright even though she's squeamish about all the violence. What would Fu Manchu have thought?

[Evan · Rating 3 out of 5]

weird streampunk imperialism

not terrible, in a weird strange streamline, utopian, racist, oddly nuanced and horribly dialogue Mary Sue way. I thought it was a joke, but kept reading, odd ideas of technology make it worthwhile.

[Mbuye · Rating 3 out of 5]

The period between 1900 and 1920 was an extraordinary time for futuristic and dystopian fiction. Even before the glory days of HG Wells, books like ‘The Angel of the Revolution (1893)’ foresaw a time when mechanised war machines and aerial warfare replaced the conventional methods of land and sea battles. George Chetwynd Griffith was thirty-six when he published the colossal ‘Angel of the Revolution,’ his first novel, and one filled with idealism and the Brotherhood of Man – at any cost. The Brotherhood, mostly drawn from the working and trading classes, is determined to do away with a world where hard work is rewarded by exploitation, hunger, brutality and serfdom by a small group who have grown rich on the labour of others. To equalise the situation and achieve perfect peace and harmony among the peoples of the world, Griffith postulates that an Armageddon should first be fought among all European nations, who between them, controlled the rest of the world. Such a war would necessitate the use of powerful weaponry never before dreamt of.

All military fiction so far had contained accounts of conventional battles fought on land and sea: infantry and cavalry with mortars and howitzers as artillery support. On sea, battleships and ironclads were still the old coal-powered vessels traditionally in use, with coal ships in reserve and “torpedo boats” convoying a fleet.

Griffith conceptually changed all that in ‘Angel:’ so much of Griffith’s vision is visionary and prophetic - the airship he builds, (the Kitty Hawk’s successful flight was in 1903, ten years after ‘Angel’) with its speed and silence, might have been a fighter plane of the twenty-first century. With the airship's additional capacity for handling passengers on different decks and levels, it could well have been the forerunner of the USS Enterprise of the Starfleet. The energy designed to power these planes are a combination of gases, the secret of which rests with one man alone.

The Armageddon war has three principal groups: the Anglo-Saxon (sometimes the Anglo-Teutonic) Federation, consisting of England, Germany and Austria; the Franco-Slavonian (also known as the Franco-Russian) League, comprising France with her African colonies, and Russia, with her Baltic and Balkan satellites; and the Brotherhood of Freedom, comprising anarchists, nihilists and socialists - all proudly known collectively as the Terrorists. America has not declared for any side as yet.

The narrative of the war and its battles, the victories on either side, casualties and treaties, reads like a history of World War I, which was several years in the future. Although Queen Victoria has abdicated in favour of her son, Tsar Alexander II is a principal actor in the novel, together with Kaiser Wilhelm II. The battles are described in agonising detail, and despite their military and strategic accuracy, drag out the story with too much information. Eventually, Europe and America fall under the control of Terrorists, a compromise is arrived at with the Muslims (who have won their war with the Buddhists) for the divvying up of the spoils, Africa and Asia going to the Muslims while the Terrorists keep the rest of the world.

Powerful and idealistic though the theme may be, it is nevertheless an idea as old as Plato, and doomed to failure for the same reasons. It fails to take into account human nature. It is motivated as much by one man’s passion to avenge a personal wrong at the hands of the Tsar, as it is ostensibly to end all war and establish a lasting and universal peace. It is non-inclusive: by calling it an Anglo-Saxon alliance, the ideal world that comes into being clearly sets out its indifference to all other ethnic and racial groups in their control. Women play the same role as always in history, as unpaid labour and caregivers.

However, I make allowances for the time in which the novel is set, and give full credit to the author's imagination in technical creativity, which foresaw the destruction of vast swathes of humanity by the touch of a button (think Hiroshima). If his political, social and humanitarian vision is not so grand, it is rather the fault of his times than a failure in himself. It is also a pity that the victorious group that conquers the world have named themselves the Terrorists, not knowing how loathsome the word is going to be to successive generations.

[Janne Wass · Rating 3 out of 5]

When H.G. Wells published his first SF novels in the latter half of the 1890s, he stood in the shadow of George Griffith, whose Magnum Opus, "The Angel of the Revolution" and "Olga Romanoff", both serialised in 1893 and 1894, and published as novels a year later, respectively. Griffith was the star of the "scientific romance" story in Britain, although quite anonymous in the US, partly due to his socialist leanings and his imperialustic attitudes toward America.

"The Angel of the Revolution" was the crowning achievement of the future war boom that gained speed in the 1870s, depicting a socialist Illuminati-like cabal taking over the world with the help of a fleet of deadly airships. However, in this version, the terrorists are the heroes.

Young, idealist inventor Richard Arnold gets recruited to the secretive Brotherhood of Freedom, known to the world as the Terrorists, led by the mysterious mastermind Natas. For them, he builds a fleet of propellered airships, which he is placed in charge of. Through small nudges by infiltrators in the governments of the world, the Terrorists help along the beginning of a world war, instigated by the French and the Russian Tsar. The Terrorists take little part in the warm except freeing Natas' daughter, the beautiful Natasha, from the Tsar and retrieve a stolen airhship. That is, not until Britain is on the brink of annihilation (when, naturally, it is the last country standing against Russia). After the world has nearly annihilated itself, the Brotherhood stands as an invincible force and claims power over the world.

Focusing nearly as much on characters as on strategic warfare, the novel sets itself above most future war stories of the era. Still, every narrative chapter is followed by rather tedious, detailed descriptions of the global events of the war. And the characters themselves are cardboard cutouts whose internal worlds we know little of after the 300+ pages.

[Maik Civeira · Rating 3 out of 5]

Richard Arnold, un joven y brillante científico inglés, descubre el principio que permitirá volar a los objetos más pesados que el aire, lo que haría posible la construcción de vehículos aéreos. Entonces reclutado por un agente de la Brotherhood of Freedom (o Hermandad de la Libertad, pero en español sueña feo por la rima interna), una sociedad secreta de -chequen esto- socialistas, nihilistas y anarquistas de todo el mundo civilizado, que se han propuesto a derribar el orden existente para reemplazarlo por uno más justo.

La trama puede sonar padrísima, pero Griffith no era muy buen escritor y el resultado es una novela mucho menos interesante de lo que podría parecer. Griffith es un narrador mediocre, sin intuición del ritmo o de la intriga, y para ser sinceros, la obra resulta bastante aburrida. De hecho, lo más interesante de esos libros (además de lo curiosa que resulta como pieza de retrofuturismo) es la forma en la que refleja el contexto de su época.

En las décadas previas a la Primera Guerra Mundial, la idea de que un conflicto generalizado era inevitable se encontraba firmemente asentada en el imaginario colectivo europeo. Sólo que nadie adivinó cómo llegaría a ser en realidad esa confrontación. Griffith plasma las ideas que sus contemporáneos tenían no sólo sobre la guerra venidera, sino sobre lo que esa guerra significaría para Europa.

El conflicto total era visto como un fuego purificador que acabaría con la decadencia de una sociedad aburguesada y comodina. Otra de las ingenuidades de la época que Griffith comparte fielmente es su optimismo por la tecnología y su papel en la guerra. Como otros pensadores, Girffith creía que si la tecnología bélica llegaba a tal punto de ser completamente devastadora, la guerra se haría imposible.

[Martyn Vaughan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has some resemblance to H. G. Wells' much better-known "The War In The Air. " Like that work, it foresaw that the mastery of flight would have a profound effect upon how war would be carried out. It has some claim to presience as, although written in the last decade of the nineteenth century, it forecast that there would be a great and terrible war in Europe in the early twentieth. However, the war as described was an inversion of the real war, as it showed England (sic) at war with Russia, France & Italy and aided by Germany & AustroHungary.
The protagonist - Arnold - finally solves the problem of heavier-than-air flight by developing two new compounds which make a powerful explosive when they come in contact. Instead of destroying the aircraft, this reaction powers a series of propellers. It is also used in the development of giant air-guns which can demolish entire fortresses. Arnold is recruited by a secret society - The Terrorists - which builds his first aircraft and uses it to establish a secret base in an unknown region of Africa. Here they observe the great war, waiting to see the combatants destroy each other before coming down on one side. No prizes for guessing which side. Unlike Wells, who also saw society rebuilt after dreadful warfare, Griffith's world is shown to be ruled by the genius of "The Anglo-Saxon Race", composed of all the white, English speaking people of the world.
Such an idea was of course quite normal in late Victorian Britain (i.e.England.)

[Joe Collins · Rating 1 out of 5]

Complete and total trash! This was written by a socialist and made the a complete Mary Sue version of socialism in this book. I mean it is so bad in it they the are prefect in every possible aspect of science, warfare, discipline, and hive mind belief! An example of this is in the book, when the word went up for the socialist revolution in the USA, it was perfectly carried out with no bloodshed, within hours, of a force of 5 million men of total population of 63 million, in theory about one out of three military aged men in the country…I can hardly get a group of people to agree on the what pizzas to order for a group! Better yet, I think the author failed to realize how his socialist heroes got power and kept it…through murder of anybody that disagreed with the soul autocrat that controlled their organization (it is even eluded to that all of his dictatorial powers would be transferred to his daughter with his death). Yeah, so, anyone in the organization would be put to death if they disagreed with the ultimate leader, unless he judge otherwise! Also, they mercilessly murdered wounded or surrendering enemies, in one part of the story they surrounded over 1 million Russian soldiers and killed every one allowing none to surrender and executing the wounded on the ground!

[Francis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Think of a lesser Jules Verne, think H. Ridder Haggard, think of a lesser H.G. Wells and you pretty well know what you are getting into. Think nostalgia and you may enjoy it. Sort of a weird combination of a free thinking socialistic utopia headed by a right-minded?, albeit thoroughly racist anglo-saxon federation.

Yes you are going to need to suspend your logical senses and just kind of drop back into the prevailing attitudes of the English mind at the time of it's writing. George Griffith is often described as one of the early pioneers of science fiction. The unthinkable flying craft in this book is a flying aeroplane. He wrote the book in 1894 and set the story ten years in the future or 1904. The year of the Wright Brothers first flight. Also the book describes a great conflict breaking out among all the European powers. In this one, England, Germany and Austria are allied against Russia, France and Italy.

Yeah ultimately, a strange brew of prognostication accompanied by a questionable mix of ideals.

[Glenn · Rating 5 out of 5]

In The Angel of the Revolution A Tale of the Coming Terror, Arnold is a poor inventor living in the east side of London. He invented a model air ship that runs on internal combustion by two (unknown) reactive gases. He was eating one day and a person came to him asking about the air ship. Arnold asked if he was from the Tsar (or king) of Russia. After a discussion of this Arnold was asked if he wanted to join the Brotherhood of Freedom and bring peace to earth with full size airships. Arnold then joined it and built the first air ship "Ariel". After that the Brotherhood tested the weapons by leveling a castle in four shots. Meanwhile, Arnold tries to win Natasha the daughter of Natas the Master of Terror. This is an awesome (old) book by George Griffith. It constants everything from battles, logic, adventure, and many interesting characters.

[Lorena N · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ho interrotto la lettura del libro dopo aver letto, ripetutamente, l'espressione "NUOVO ORDINE", ma soprattutto dopo aver realizzato cosa esce fuori leggendo il nome del capo dei Terroristi al contrario (Terroristi che dovrebbero stabilire un Nuovo Ordine, abolire la proprietà privata e instaurare un governo mondiale a trazione britannica). E ho detto tutto!

[Sierra Apaliski · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting take on nihilism in the Victorian era by using science fiction. I felt that the plot skipped around a lot, but that flows with how the book was published in parts.

[Wayne · Rating 1 out of 5]

This has been described as early steampunk -- very early, since it was written around 1893. I don't want to say whether it is or isn't steampunk, since that word is very fluffy in its definition.

In some ways, it was interesting. It was a bit prophetic of the coming world wars, and there were statements made about politicians, bankers, and business people that hold true even today.

I'd probably have given it two, maaaybe three stars except for the following lines in the book:

- "... the Master's way is the best, and will prove the shortest road to the universal peace which can only come through universal war."

- "... the object of which was, not merely to place Britain in the first place among the nations, but to make the Anglo-Saxon race the one dominant power in the whole world."

These are examples of a prevailing attitudes throughout the book -- universal war is essential for peace, and whites should rule the world. I absolutely reject both attitudes. The only reason I kept reading was that I held out hope that those would be proven wrong by the end of the book. The single star is an indication that I was wrong.

(Yeah, yeah, work of fiction, maybe the author didn't believe those things. That might be true, but it didn't really feel that way.)

[Erik · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the future year of 1904, an impoverished English inventor solves the secret of aerial navigation. He hands it over to the nihilist organization, the Terrorists, dedicated to the overthrow of capitalism and militarism. This starts out as pretty poor sf, much below what Wells was doing, but it builds up to a harrowing depiction of a vast, apocalyptic total world war, which prefigures World War I with the unusual wrinkle of the UK and Germany fighting against Russia and France. For fans of Michael Moorcock, this seems to be one of the influences behind the Bastable novels, but I think it's better since this is the pure source.

[Cleat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting but a very old style of writing.

[Bianca · Rating 3 out of 5]

I could see this being made into a film tbh, it's a fast paced and compelling story. It also couldn't hurt if academics took a look at it, imo :)