author
Lloyd Williams
Best remembered for a rare early British invasion novel, this little-known writer explored national anxiety and the idea of future war in a story that now feels like a fascinating historical curiosity.
1 Audiobook
Psychotennis, Anyone?
by Lloyd Williams
About the author
Lloyd Williams was a British author, born in Surrey in 1869 and died in 1951. Reliable reference sources identify him with The Great Raid: A Story of Britain's Peril, first published in 1909 after appearing in serial form in Black and White.
Science fiction reference works describe the book as a relatively late example of the "Battle of Dorking" tradition, a strain of fiction that imagined Britain under threat of invasion. That gives Williams a small but interesting place in the history of speculative and war fiction.
Very little biographical information seems to survive beyond these basic facts, which adds to the air of mystery around him. Even so, The Great Raid has kept his name alive among readers interested in early science fiction, invasion literature, and the fears that shaped popular fiction before the First World War.