The People of the Ruins

The People of the Ruins by Edward Shanks

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This is an oddball book that reminded me of Jack London's “The Scarlet Plague” and “The Iron Heel” or Milo Hasting's “The City of Night.” This book was written in 1920, shortly after the Great War, during a period when England was facing labor unrest. Shanks hero - Jeremy Tuft - is a scientist, who is bathed in experimental “rays” by a friendly scientist in1920. The rays freeze Tuft for 150 years.

When he escapes stasis, he discovers that the labor unrest he witnessed grew in global scope and disrupted civilization. The world he discovers is feudal and science has been forgotten.

One interesting aspect of the book is that Shanks posits a breakdown of society without nuclear weapons. In two decades, there would be a growth industry in collapse-of-civilization stories caused by nuclear wars. Shanks imagines it happens through labor unrest, which seems unlikely, albeit having gone through the Great War, it must have seemed plausible.

Another interesting aspect is how future history morphs into alternate history. When Shanks wrote this book, he was imaginatively projecting into the future. Now that we are one-hundred years on, it seems more like an alternative history with a point of departure in 1920.

The book itself is engaging. I was curious about how the story would play out. There are problems with the writing. Tuft seemed a lightweight character who was thrust into an important position. The story is ultimately a downer. If you were expecting Tuft to reignite the world of the future with forgotten science, and I was, you will be disappointed.

Nonetheless, it might be worth a read for anyone interested in early 20th century imaginative fiction.