
by
Preface
CHAPTER I
CHAPTER II
CHAPTER III
CHAPTER IV
CHAPTER V
CHAPTER VI
CHAPTER VII
CHAPTER VIII
The author weaves a personal memoir with a broad‑scale critique of the economic structures that shape our lives. Drawing on decades of experience as a speculator, businessman, and observer of history’s darkest chapters, he offers a candid, often stark, assessment of how profit‑driven systems can clash with humanity’s innate compassion. With a tone that feels both humble and urgent, he proposes a thoughtful, if unconventional, remedy that seeks to restore balance without sparking social upheaval.
Against this backdrop, the narrative follows a chance encounter on a New York park bench, where the narrator befriends a solitary young man named Fred Balmore. Fred, haunted by family expectations, a revoked pilot’s license, and a recent stint in an asylum, hints at a desperate yearning to reclaim his freedom—culminating in a reckless dash into a dormant bomber at a government airfield. Their evolving conversation becomes a window into the personal toll of a flawed system, setting the stage for a deeper exploration of redemption and societal change.
Language
en
Duration
~5 hours (335K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Original publisher
Philadelphia: World Publication Press, 1951.
Credits
Aaron Adrignola, Tim Lindell, Graeme Mackreth and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This book was produced from images made available by the HathiTrust Digital Library.)
Release date
2024-01-05
Rights
Public domain in the USA.
Subjects
1876–1975
Best remembered for a single unusual novel, this little-known writer imagined a Martian society as a way to question injustice on Earth. His work blends science-fiction adventure with utopian and social ideas in a direct, old-fashioned style.
View all books
by Pieter Harting

by William Morris

by H. G. (Herbert George) Wells

by W. S. (William Shuler) Harris

by Benjamin Lumley

by Pierre Gallet

by William Simpson

by Theodor Hertzka