The starship crew was stuck on a planet where the schemes of social engineers had created a nightmare of battling gangs. So they pretended to be the Royal Legions from a distant star kingdom. Things went better than they could have hoped, and the planet was rapidly becoming civilized--and then the real Royal flagship showed up.

A FEW GOOD CON MEN.... The starship crew was stuck on a planet where the well-meaning schemes of ivory tower social engineers had created a nightmare of battling gangs. So they pretended to be the "Royal Legions" from a distant star kingdom in hot pursuit of an unspeakably evil and nearly all-powerful villain who was hiding somewhere on the planet. Things went even better than they had hoped, and the planet was rapidly becoming civilized . . . and then the real Royal Flagship showed up. They thought they were doomed, but instead the new arrivals (who also weren't quite what they claimed to be) thought the crew had shown just the sort of initiative and ingenuity that the Interstellar Patrol was looking for. So they were inducted into the Patrol. And that was just the beginning. . . . At the publisher's request, this title is sold without DRM (Digital Rights Management). "I am delighted that someone is making Christopher Anvil's work available once again. Especially the Interstellar Patrol stories. I've always loved Anvil's . . . peculiar sense of humor." ¾David Weber "[Anvil is] insistently readable!" ¾The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction

"And much more, including such lethal alien wildlife as banjo birds with rapier-like beaks, alien caterpillars with flaming dragonlike exhalations, and a cast of thousands of biting, stinging, bloodsucking insects from a host of colony worlds who think humans are the tastiest things they've ever come across."--BOOK JACKET.

An in-depth history of science, primarily covering the 1930s, from Superman to Olaf Stapledon’s Star Maker. The book examines science fiction literature, art, cinema, and comics, and the impact of culture, philosophy, science, technology, and futures studies on the development of science fiction. Further, the book describes the influence of science fiction on human society and the evolution of future consciousness. Other key figures discussed include apek, Hamilton, “Doc” Smith, Campbell, Lovecraft, C. A. Smith, and Williamson.

'Spaceships in their thousands, and they're attacking us! They've come from somewhere toward our galaxy - have come out of intergalactic space itself to attack our universe!' The Interstellar Patrol, that fabulous fleet manned by all the assorted races of our galaxy, faced its greatest struggle when that alarm came through. For this was an attack from OUTSIDE THE UNIVERSE, a vast migration from another galaxy, and it had to be stopped if a thousand worlds were to survive! This terrific classic space novel on the grandest scale involves three giant galaxies in an all-out conflict.

Humans¾there's no understanding them, And no dealing with them either. Or even their planet. Pity the poor aliens, whose shape-changing ability should let them take over the planet Earth before the humans even know they're there-if it weren't for all that omnipresent pollution. Or consider another set of invaders, from a planet where the weather is always mild and the changing of the seasons is hardly noticeable. They land in force and their weapons are more powerful than those of the primitive humans-but they've never before had to deal with below-zero temperatures, flash floods or tornados-not to mention volcanoes. Then there were the aliens who noticed how belligerent humans were, and gave them the "gift" of TV-like devices which would show anything anywhere on Earth, which was sure to lead to war. Imagine how surprised the aliens were when the humans took the gadgets apart, improved them, and started spying on everything the aliens were up to, all over the galaxy. Humans don't make sense, they don't fight fair, and they're making aliens throughout interstellar space think seriously about pulling up stakes and moving to another galaxy! At the publisher's request, this title is sold without DRM (Digital Rights Management).