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The Yellow Wave
A Romance of the Asiatic Invasion of Australia
Early Classics of Science Fiction
Edited Andrew Enstice, Janeen Webb
Sales Date: 2003-06-26
352 Pages, 5.50 x 8.50 in
A classic adventure story of a Chinese invasion.
In Kenneth Mackay's 1895 admonitory tale, Britain's attention and military forces are diverted by a Russian attack on India, and Australia is left defenseless. The Russians lead the invasion force, but for readers of the Victorian Age, the real horror is the use of Chinese troops. This sweeping speculative story foreshadows the rapid growth of nationalism in the 20th Century. It also takes remarkable risks with its subject matter and its audience, challenging both literary and moral conventions. The Wesleyan edition—the first version of the book published in over a hundred years—includes facsimile illustrations from the original text, a new introduction and thorough notations. Peopled with extraordinary characters, swiftly plotted, and thrillingly romantic, this influential classic fantasy is as fascinating today as it was more than a century ago.
A Note on the Text
The Yellow Wave
Notes
Selected Bibliography
About the Editors
KENNETH MACKAY (1859-1935) was the author of many books, including Songs of a Sunlit Land (1908) and Across Papua (1909), but was best known as a soldier and founder of the Light Horse fighting brigade. ANDREW ENSTICE is Senior Lecturer and JANEEN WEBB is Associate Professor & Reader at Australian Catholic University in Melbourne, Australia. They are co-authors of Aliens & Savages: Fiction, Politics and Prejudice in Australia (1998) and The Fantastic Self (1999).
"The real value of this cautionary novel lies in its predictive role—it nicely anticipates major political and even spiritual dilemmas of the century just ahead, our century."
~D.M. Hassler, Executive Editor, Extrapolation
"The Yellow Wave is a key early text dealing with racism, western prejudice and national identity, and would be any modern scholar's selection as the first title to bring back into currency."
~Van Ikin, Associate Professor of English, Communication and Cultural Studies, University of Western Australia