Invasion literature (also the invasion novel or the future war genre) is a

literary genre A literary genre is a category of literature. Genres may be determined by List of narrative techniques, literary technique, Tone (literature), tone, Media (communication), content, or length (especially for fiction). They generally move from mor ...

that was popular in the period between 1871 and the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

(1914–1918). The invasion novel was first recognised as a literary genre in the UK, with the novella '' The Battle of Dorking: Reminiscences of a Volunteer'' (1871), an account of a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

invasion of England, which, in the

Western world The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to various nations and state (polity), states in Western Europe, Northern America, and Australasia; with some debate as to whether those in Eastern Europe and Latin America also const ...

, aroused the national imaginations and anxieties about hypothetical invasions by foreign powers; by 1914 the genre of invasion literature comprised over 400 novels and stories.. The genre was influential in Britain in shaping politics, national policies, and popular perceptions in the years leading up to the First World War, and remains a part of popular culture to this day. Several of the books were written by or ghostwritten for military officers and experts of the day who believed that the nation would be saved if the particular tactic that they favoured was or would be adopted.

Pre-"Dorking"

Nearly a century before the invasion genre became widespread after the publication of ''The Battle of Dorking'' in 1871, a mini-boom of invasion stories appeared soon after the French developed the

hot air balloon A hot air balloon is a lighter-than-air aircraft consisting of a bag, called an envelope, which contains heated air. Suspended beneath is a gondola or wicker basket (in some long-distance or high-altitude balloons, a capsule), which carri ...

. Poems and plays centred on balloon armies invading the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

could be found in France and America. However, it was not until the

North German Confederation The North German Confederation () was initially a German military alliance established in August 1866 under the leadership of the Kingdom of Prussia, which was transformed in the subsequent year into a confederated state (a ''de facto'' feder ...

used advanced technologies such as

rifled breech loader A rifled breech loader (RBL) is an artillery piece which, unlike the smoothbore cannon and rifled muzzle loader which preceded it, has rifling in the barrel and is loaded from the breech-loading weapon, breech at the rear of the gun. The spin im ...

s and

rail transport Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

to defeat the

Second French Empire The Second French Empire, officially the French Empire, was the government of France from 1852 to 1870. It was established on 2 December 1852 by Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte, president of France under the French Second Republic, who proclaimed hi ...

in the

Franco-Prussian War The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...

in 1871 that the fear of invasion by a technologically superior enemy became more realistic.

In Europe

One of those stories is a history of the French suddenly invading the United Kingdom in May 1852. According to I. F. Clarke, many feared that military weakness at home would invite attack from abroad and for the rest of the century not a decade passed without alarm. After the 1851 self-coup d'état of Napoleon, there were general fears that the French might attempt an invasion. To demonstrate the defenceless condition of the country, an anonymous author wrote ''A history of the sudden and terrible invasion of England by the French, in the month of May, 1852'' ( London, 1851). This was the first complete imaginary war of the future to be written in English and it gave a detailed account of the weaknesses that led to the disaster. '' The Battle of Dorking'' (1871) by George Tomkyns Chesney was first published in ''

Blackwood's Magazine ''Blackwood's Magazine'' was a British magazine and miscellany printed between 1817 and 1980. It was founded by publisher William Blackwood and originally called the ''Edinburgh Monthly Magazine'', but quickly relaunched as ''Blackwood's Edinb ...

'', a respected political journal of the

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the reign of Queen Victoria, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. Slightly different definitions are sometimes used. The era followed the ...

. ''The Battle of Dorking'' describes the invasion of Britain by an unnamed enemy who speaks German in which the narrator and a thousand citizens defend the town of

Dorking Dorking () is a market town in Surrey in South East England about south-west of London. It is in Mole Valley, Mole Valley District and the non-metropolitan district, council headquarters are to the east of the centre. The High Street runs ro ...

without supplies,

matériel Materiel or matériel (; ) is supplies, equipment, and weapons in military supply-chain management, and typically supplies and equipment in a commercial supply chain context. Military In a military context, the term ''materiel'' refers eith ...

, or news of the outside world. The story's narrative moves forward fifty years, and Britain remains devastated. Like many of his countrymen, the author was alarmed by the successful 1870 invasion of the Second French Empire by the North German Confederation, which was led by the

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (, ) was a German state that existed from 1701 to 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Rev. ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1946. It played a signif ...

. They defeated Europe's largest army in only two months. ''The Battle of Dorking'' was initially meant to shock readers into becoming more aware of the possible dangers of a foreign threat, but unwittingly created a new literary genre appealing to widespread anxieties. The story was an immediate success, with one reviewer saying, "We do not know that we ever saw anything better in any magazine... it describes exactly what we all feel." It was so popular that the magazine was re-printed six times, a new pamphlet version was created, dozens of spoofs were created, and it was for sale throughout the

British Empire The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...

. One

running joke A running gag, or running joke, is a literary device that takes the form of an amusing joke or a comical reference and appears repeatedly throughout a work of literature or other form of storytelling. Though they are similar, catchphrases are not ...

in England at the time was an injury, such as a bruise or scrape, being attributed to a wound received at the battle of Dorking. Between the publication of ''The Battle of Dorking'' in 1871 and the start of the

in 1914 there were hundreds of authors writing invasion literature, often topping the best seller lists in Germany,

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, England and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. During the period it is estimated over 400 invasion works were published. Probably the best known work was

H. G. Wells Herbert George Wells (21 September 1866 – 13 August 1946) was an English writer, prolific in many genres. He wrote more than fifty novels and dozens of short stories. His non-fiction output included works of social commentary, politics, hist ...

's ''

The War of the Worlds ''The War of the Worlds'' is a science fiction novel by English author H. G. Wells. It was written between 1895 and 1897, and serialised in '' Pearson's Magazine'' in the UK and ''Cosmopolitan'' magazine in the US in 1897. The full novel was ...

'' (1897), bearing plot similarities to ''The Battle of Dorking'' but with a science fiction theme. In 1907, Wells wrote ''

The War in the Air ''The War in the Air: And Particularly How Mr. Bert Smallways Fared While It Lasted'' is a military science fiction novel written by H. G. Wells and published in 1908. The novel was written in four months in 1907, and was serialized and publi ...

'', a cautionary tale depicting purely human invasions: a German invasion of the US triggers off a worldwide chain of attacks and counter-attacks, leading to the destruction of all major cities and centers, the collapse of world economy, disintegration of all the fighting nations and the sinking of the world into new Middle Ages. ''

Dracula ''Dracula'' is an 1897 Gothic fiction, Gothic horror fiction, horror novel by Irish author Bram Stoker. The narrative is Epistolary novel, related through letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles. It has no single protagonist and opens ...

'' (1897) also tapped into English fears of foreign forces arriving unopposed on its shores. Between 1870 and 1903, most of these works assumed that the enemy would be France, rather than Germany. This changed with the publication of Erskine Childers's 1903 novel '' The Riddle of the Sands''. Often called the first modern

spy novel Spy fiction is a genre of literature involving espionage as an important context or plot device. It emerged in the early twentieth century, inspired by rivalries and intrigues between the major powers, and the establishment of modern intellig ...

, two men on a sailing holiday thwart a German invasion of Britain when they discover a secret fleet of invasion barges assembling on the German coast. Of these hundreds of authors, few are in print now.

Saki Hector Hugh Munro (18 December 1870 – 14 November 1916), popularly known by his pen name Saki and also frequently as H. H. Munro, was a British writer whose witty, mischievous and sometimes macabre stories satirise Edwardian society and ...

is one of the exceptions, although his 1913 novel ''

When William Came ''When William Came: A Story of London Under the Hohenzollerns'' is a novel written by the British author Saki (the pseudonym of Hector Hugh Munro) and published in November 1913. It is set several years in what was then the future, after a war b ...

'' (subtitled "A Story of London Under the Hohenzollerns") is more

jingoistic Jingoism is nationalism in the form of aggressive and proactive foreign policy, such as a country's advocacy for the use of threats or actual force, as opposed to peaceful relations, in efforts to safeguard what it perceives as its national inter ...

than literary. Another is

John Buchan John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir (; 26 August 1875 – 11 February 1940) was a Scottish novelist, historian, British Army officer, and Unionist politician who served as Governor General of Canada, the 15th since Canadian Confederation. As a ...

, whose novel ''

The Thirty-Nine Steps ''The Thirty-Nine Steps'' is a 1915 adventure novel by the Scottish literature, Scottish author John Buchan, first published by William Blackwood and Sons, Edinburgh. It was Serial (literature), serialized in ''Argosy (magazine)#The All-Story, ...

'', published in 1915 but written just before the outbreak of World War I, is a thriller dealing with German agents in Britain preparing for an invasion. William Le Queux was the most prolific author of the genre; his first novel was ''

The Great War in England in 1897 ''The Great War in England in 1897'' was written by William Le Queux and published in 1894. Le Queux's work is an early example of Invasion literature genre, which began with '' The Battle of Dorking'' in 1871, where the British are soundly ...

'' (1894) and he went on to publish from one to twelve books a year until he died in 1927. His work was regularly serialised in newspapers, particularly the ''

Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily Middle-market newspaper, middle-market Tabloid journalism, tabloid conservative newspaper founded in 1896 and published in London. , it has the List of newspapers in the United Kingdom by circulation, h ...

'', and attracted many readers. It is believed

Ian Fleming Ian Lancaster Fleming (28 May 1908 – 12 August 1964) was a British writer, best known for his postwar ''James Bond'' series of spy novels. Fleming came from a wealthy family connected to the merchant bank Robert Fleming & Co., and his ...

James Bond The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...

character was inspired by Le Queux's agent "Duckworth Drew". In some ways ''The Great War'' can be considered an antithesis to ''The Battle of Dorking'' – with the one ending for Britain in sombre and irrevocable defeat and decline, while in the other the invasion of

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

is pushed back in the last moment with the help of Germany, portrayed as a staunch ally against the

French Third Republic The French Third Republic (, sometimes written as ) was the system of government adopted in France from 4 September 1870, when the Second French Empire collapsed during the Franco-Prussian War, until 10 July 1940, after the Fall of France durin ...

and the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

. The United Kingdom obtained enormous territorial aggrandizement; it receives

French Algeria French Algeria ( until 1839, then afterwards; unofficially ; ), also known as Colonial Algeria, was the period of History of Algeria, Algerian history when the country was a colony and later an integral part of France. French rule lasted until ...

and Imperial Russian Central Asia and "Britannia" becomes "Empress of the World". Le Queux's most popular invasion novel was '' The Invasion of 1910'' (1906), which was translated into twenty-seven languages and sold more than a million copies worldwide. Le Queux and his publisher changed the ending depending on the language, so Germany won in the German edition, while the Germans lost in the English edition. Le Queux was said to be Queen Alexandra of Denmark's favorite author.

P. G. Wodehouse Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse ( ; 15 October 1881 – 14 February 1975) was an English writer and one of the most widely read humorists of the 20th century. His creations include the feather-brained Bertie Wooster and his sagacious valet, Je ...

parodied the genre in '' The Swoop!'', in which England is simultaneously invaded by nine different armies, including

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

and the

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

. English elites appear to be more interested in a cricket tournament, and the country is eventually saved by a boy scout named Clarence. In France, Émile Driant writing as "Capitaine Danrit", wrote of future wars opposing France to Great Britain (''La Guerre Fatale'') or to Germany (''La Guerre de Demain'').

In Asia

Invasion literature had its impact also in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, at the time undergoing a fast process of

modernization Modernization theory or modernisation theory holds that as societies become more economically modernized, wealthier and more educated, their political institutions become increasingly liberal democratic and rationalist. The "classical" theories ...

Shunrō Oshikawa was a Japanese author, journalist and editor, best known as a pioneer of science fiction. Education and early career While studying law at Tōkyō Senmon Gakkō (present day Waseda University) at the turn of the century, Oshikawa published ''Ka ...

, a pioneer of Japanese

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

and adventure stories (genres unknown in Japan until a few years earlier), published around the start of the 20th century the

best-seller A bestseller is a book or other media noted for its top selling status, with bestseller lists published by newspapers, magazines, and book store chains. Some lists are broken down into classifications and specialties (novel, nonfiction book, cookb ...

''Kaitō Bōken Kidan: Kaitei Gunkan'' ("Undersea Battleship"): the story of an armoured,

ram Ram, ram, or RAM most commonly refers to: * A male sheep * Random-access memory, computer memory * Ram Trucks, US, since 2009 ** List of vehicles named Dodge Ram, trucks and vans ** Ram Pickup, produced by Ram Trucks Ram, ram, or RAM may also ref ...

-armed

submarine A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability.) The term "submarine" is also sometimes used historically or infor ...

involved in a

future history A future history, imaginary history or anticipatory history is a fictional conjecture of the future used by authors of science fiction and other speculative fiction to construct a common background for stories. Sometimes the author publishes a t ...

of war between Japan and Russia. The novel reflected the

imperialist Imperialism is the maintaining and extending of power over foreign nations, particularly through expansionism, employing both hard power (military and economic power) and soft power ( diplomatic power and cultural imperialism). Imperialism fo ...

ambitions of Japan at the time, and foreshadowed the

Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War (8 February 1904 – 5 September 1905) was fought between the Russian Empire and the Empire of Japan over rival imperial ambitions in Manchuria and the Korean Empire. The major land battles of the war were fought on the ...

that followed a few years later, in 1904. The story would notably be the main source of inspiration for the 1963 science-fiction movie ''

Atragon is a 1963 Japanese ''tokusatsu'' science fiction film directed by Ishirō Honda, with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya. Produced and distributed by Toho, it is based on ''The Undersea Warship: A Fantastic Tale of Island Adventure'' by Shunrō ...

'', by Ishiro Honda. When the actual war with Russia broke out, Oshikawa covered it as a journalist while also continuing to publish further volumes of fiction depicting Japanese imperial exploits set in the

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...

and

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...

– which also proved an enormous success with the Japanese public. In a later career as a magazine editor, he also encouraged the writing of more fiction in the same vein by other Japanese authors. Colonial

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

's earliest work of invasion literature is believed to have been the 1897 '' The Back Door''. Published in serial form in a local English-language newspaper, it described a fictional French and Russian naval landing at

Hong Kong Island Hong Kong Island () is an island in the southern part of Hong Kong. The island, known originally and on road signs simply as "Hong Kong", had a population of 1,289,500 and a population density of , . It is the second largest island in Hong Kon ...

's Deep Water Bay; the story was intended to criticise the lack of

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

funding for the defence of Hong Kong, and it is speculated that members of the

Imperial Japanese Army The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA; , ''Dai-Nippon Teikoku Rikugun'', "Army of the Greater Japanese Empire") was the principal ground force of the Empire of Japan from 1871 to 1945. It played a central role in Japan’s rapid modernization during th ...

may have read the book in preparation for the 1941

Battle of Hong Kong The Battle of Hong Kong (8–25 December 1941), also known as the Defence of Hong Kong and the Fall of Hong Kong, was one of the first battles of the Pacific War in World War II. On the same morning as the attack on Pearl Harbor, forces of the ...

In the United States

One of the earliest invasion stories to appear in print in the US was "The Stricken Nation" by Henry Grattan Donnelly published in 1890 in New York. It tells of a successful invasion of the US by the UK. The move of U.S. public opinion towards participation in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

was reflected in ''Uncle Sam's Boys at The Invasion of the United States'' by H. Irving Hancock. This four-book series, published by the Henry Altemus Company in 1916, depicts a German invasion of the US in 1920 and 1921. The plot seems to transfer the main story line of Le Queux's ''The Great War'' (with which the writer may have been familiar) to a US theatre: the Germans launch a surprise attack, capture

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

despite heroic resistance by "Uncle Sam's boys", overrun all of

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

and

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

and reach as far as

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

– but at last are gloriously crushed by fresh US forces.

In Australia

Australia's contribution to invasion literature was set against the background of pre-

Federation A federation (also called a federal state) is an entity characterized by a political union, union of partially federated state, self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a #Federal governments, federal government (federalism) ...

colonial fears of the "

Yellow Peril The Yellow Peril (also the Yellow Terror, the Yellow Menace, and the Yellow Specter) is a Racism, racist color terminology for race, color metaphor that depicts the peoples of East Asia, East and Southeast Asia as an existential danger to the ...

" and the foundations of the White Australia policy. From the late 1880s through to the beginning of World War I, this fear was expressed in Australia through cartoons, poems, plays and novels. Three of the most well known of these novels were ''White or Yellow? A Story of the Race War of AD 1908'' (1888) by journalist William Lane, ''The Yellow Wave'' (1895) by Kenneth Mackay and ''The Australian Crisis'' (1909) by Charles H. Kirmess (possibly a pseudonym for another Australian author Frank Fox). Each of these novels contained two major common themes which were a reflection of the fears and concerns within a contemporary Australian context; the Australian continent was at risk of major invasion from a strong Asian power (ie. China or Japan, sometimes with the assistance of the Russian Empire) and that the United Kingdom was apathetic towards the protection of its faraway colonies, and would not come to Australia's aid when needed.

After World War I

The "

First Red Scare The first Red Scare was a period during History of the United States (1918–1945), the early 20th-century history of the United States marked by a widespread fear of Far-left politics, far-left movements, including Bolsheviks, Bolshevism a ...

" following

produced

Edgar Rice Burroughs Edgar Rice Burroughs (September 1, 1875 – March 19, 1950) was an American writer, best known for his prolific output in the adventure, science fiction, and fantasy genres. Best known for creating the characters Tarzan (who appeared in ...

's '' The Moon Men'' (1925), a depiction of Earth (and specifically, the United States) under the rule of cruel invaders from the

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It Orbit of the Moon, orbits around Earth at Lunar distance, an average distance of (; about 30 times Earth diameter, Earth's diameter). The Moon rotation, rotates, with a rotation period (lunar ...

. This book was written initially as ''Under the Red Flag'' as an explicit anti-Communist novel, and when rejected by the publishers, it was "recycled" by Burroughs in a science fiction format. Ivan Petrushevich's ''The Flying Submarine'' (1922) depicts Soviet forces' invasion of the United Kingdom after most of Europe and Asia falls to communism. The story features the British fleet being destroyed by a swarm of insect-like single-pilot submarines that can emerge from the water to attack their foes.

Robert A. Heinlein Robert Anson Heinlein ( ; July 7, 1907 – May 8, 1988) was an American science fiction author, aeronautical engineer, and naval officer. Sometimes called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was among the first to emphasize scientific acc ...

's '' Sixth Column'' (1941) told the story of the technologically advanced PanAsians' invasion and conquest of the United States and the subsequent guerrilla struggle to overthrow them with even more advanced technology.

The Cold War

In the 1950s, US fears of Communist invasion were notable in the novel ''

The Puppet Masters ''The Puppet Masters'' is a 1951 science fiction novel by American writer Robert A. Heinlein, in which American secret agents battle parasitic invaders from outer space. It was originally serialized in ''Galaxy Science Fiction'' (September, Oct ...

'' (1951), by

, the movie '' Invasion, USA'' (1952), directed by Alfred E. Green, and the US Defence Department propaganda film '' Red Nightmare'' (1957), directed by George Waggner. An explicit invasion-and-occupation scenario is presented in ''Point Ultimate'' (1955), by Jerry Sohl, about life in the Soviet-occupied US of 1999. In the 1960s, the invasion literature enemy changed from the political threat of Communist infiltration and indoctrination from and conquest by the Soviets, to the 19th-century

of "Red China" (the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

) who threaten the economy, the political stability, and the physical integrity of the US, and thus of the Western world. In '' Goldfinger'' (1964) Communist China provides the villain with a dirty

atomic bomb A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission or atomic bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear weapon), producing a nuclear expl ...

to irradiate and render useless the gold

bullion Bullion is non-ferrous metal that has been refined to a high standard of elemental purity. The term is ordinarily applied to bulk metal used in the production of coins and especially to precious metals such as gold and silver. It comes from ...

that is the basis of the US economy. In '' You Only Live Twice'' (1967), the PRC disrupts the geopolitical balance between the US and the Soviets, by the kidnapping of their respective spacecraft in outer space, to provoke a nuclear war, which would allow Chinese global supremacy. In '' Battle Beneath the Earth'' (1967), the PRC attempt to invade the US proper by way of a tunnel beneath the Pacific Ocean. In 1971, when the US began acknowledging that the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

(1955–1975) was a loss, two books depicting the Soviet occupation of the continental US were published; the cautionary tale ''Vandenberg'' (1971), by Oliver Lange, wherein most of the US accepts the Soviet overlord without much protest, and the only armed resistance is by guerrillas in New Mexico; and '' The First Team'' (1971), by John Ball, which depicts a hopeless situation resolved by a band of patriots, which concludes with the country's liberation. The film ''

Red Dawn ''Red Dawn'' is a 1984 American action drama film directed by John Milius, from a screenplay co-written with Kevin Reynolds. The film depicts a fictional World War III centering on a military invasion of the United States by an alliance of ...

'' (1984) depicts a Soviet/Cuban invasion of the United States and a band of high school students who resist them. The television miniseries '' Amerika'' (1987), directed by Donald Wrye, depicts life in the US a decade after the Soviet conquest. The '' Tomorrow'' series (1993–1999) by John Marsden, details the perspective of adolescent guerrillas fighting against the invasion of Australia, by an unnamed country (implied to be Indonesia).

Political impact

Stories of a planned German invasion rose to increasing political prominence from 1906. Taking their inspiration from the stories of Le Queux and Childers, hundreds of ordinary citizens began to suspect foreigners of espionage. This trend was accentuated by Le Queux, who collected 'sightings' brought to his attention by readers and raised them through his association with the Daily Mail. Subsequent research has since shown that no significant German espionage network existed in Britain at this time. Claims about the scale of German invasion preparations grew increasingly ambitious. The number of German spies was put at between 60,000 and 300,000 (in spite of the total German community in Britain being no more than 44,000 people). It was alleged that thousands of rifles were being stockpiled by German spies in order to arm saboteurs at the outbreak of war. Calls for government action grew ever more intense, and in 1909 it was given as the reason for the secret foundation of the Secret Service Bureau, the forerunner of

MI5 MI5 ( Military Intelligence, Section 5), officially the Security Service, is the United Kingdom's domestic counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), Gov ...

and

MI6 The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 ( Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligenc ...

. Historians today debate whether this was in fact the real reason, but in any case the concerns raised in invasion literature came to define the early duties of the Bureau's Home Section. Vernon Kell, the section head, remained obsessed with the location of these saboteurs, focusing his operational plans both before and during the war on defeating the saboteurs imagined by Le Queux. Invasion literature was not without detractors; policy experts in the years preceding the First World War said invasion literature risked inciting war between England and Germany and France. Critics such as

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Henry Campbell-Bannerman Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman ( né Campbell; 7 September 183622 April 1908) was a British statesman and Liberal Party politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1905 to 1908 and Leader of the Liberal Party from 1899 to 1908. ...

denounced Le Queux's '' The Invasion of 1910'' as "calculated to inflame public opinion abroad and alarm the more ignorant public at home." Journalist Charles Lowe wrote in 1910: "Among all the causes contributing to the continuance of a state of bad blood between England and Germany perhaps the most potent is the baneful industry of those unscrupulous writers who are forever asserting that the Germans are only awaiting a fitting opportunity to attack us in our island home and burst us up."

Notable invasion literature

Pre-World War I

*'' The Battle of Dorking'' (1871) by George Tomkyns Chesney *''A Catástrofe'' (ca. 1878) by José Maria Eça de Queiroz *''La Guerre de demain'' (1888) by Émile Driant *''The Battle of Mordialloo'' (1888) by Samuel Mullen *''White or Yellow? A Story of the Race War of AD 1908'' (1888) by William Lane * The battle of the Swash and the capture of Canada (1888) by Barton Samuel *''The Stricken Nation'' (1890) by Henry Grattan Donnelly *'' Hartmann the Anarchist'' (1893) by Edward Douglas Fawcett *'' The Angel of the Revolution'' (1893) by

George Griffith George Chetwynd Griffith-Jones (20 August 18574 June 1906) was a British writer. He was active mainly in the science fiction genre—or as it was known at the time, scientific romance—in particular writing many future war, future-war storie ...

* Olga Romanoff (1894) by

*''The Captain of the Mary Rose'' (1894) by William Laird Clowes *''

'' (1894) by William Le Queux *''The Yellow Wave'' (1895) by Kenneth Mackay *''The Final War'' (1896) by Louis Tracy *''Briton or Boer? A Tale of the Fight for Africa'' (1897) by

*'' The Back Door'' (1897) by

Anonymous Anonymous may refer to: * Anonymity, the state of an individual's identity, or personally identifiable information, being publicly unknown ** Anonymous work, a work of art or literature that has an unnamed or unknown creator or author * Anonym ...

*''The Yellow Danger'' (1898) by M. P. Shiel *''

'' (1898) by

*''The Celestial Hand: A Sensational Story'' (1903) by Joyce Vincent *'' The Riddle of the Sands'' (1903) by Erskine Childers *'' The Invasion of 1910'' (1906) by William Le Queux *''The Australian Crisis'' (1907) by C. H. Kirmess *''

'' (1908) by

*''Spies of the Kaiser'' (1909) by William Le Queux *'' The Swoop!'' or How Clarence Saved England: A Tale of the Great Invasion (1909), by

*''White Australia or, The Empty North'' (1909) by Randolph Bedford * '' The Unparalleled Invasion'' (1910) by

Jack London John Griffith London (; January 12, 1876 – November 22, 1916), better known as Jack London, was an American novelist, journalist and activist. A pioneer of commercial fiction and American magazines, he was one of the first American authors t ...

*'' Private Selby'' (1912) by

Edgar Wallace Richard Horatio Edgar Wallace (1 April 1875 – 10 February 1932) was a British writer of crime and adventure fiction. Born into poverty as an illegitimate London child, Wallace left school at the age of 12. He joined the army at age 21 and was ...

*''

'' (1913) by

*''

The World Set Free ''The World Set Free'' is a novel written in 1913 and published in 1914 by H. G. Wells. The book is based on a prediction of a more destructive and uncontrollable sort of weapon than the world has yet seen. It had appeared first in serialised f ...

'' (1914) by

*''All For His Country'' (1915) by

John Ulrich Giesy John Ulrich Giesy (August 6, 1877 – September 8, 1947) was an American physician, novelist and author. He was one of the early writers in the Sword and Planet genre, with his Jason Croft series. He collaborated with Junius B. Smith on many of h ...

*'' The Fall of a Nation'' (1916) by Thomas Dixon Jr. *''Conquest of the United States'' (1916) by H. Irving Hancock *'' Before Armageddon: An Anthology of Victorian and Edwardian Imaginative Fiction Published Before 1914'' edited by

Michael Moorcock Michael John Moorcock (born 18 December 1939) is an English writer, particularly of science fiction and fantasy, who has published a number of well-received literary novels as well as comic thrillers, graphic novels and non-fiction. He has wo ...

(1975) *'' England Invaded'' (1977), a collection of six popular invasion literature stories, edited by Michael Moorcock, published in 1977

Post-World War I

* ''The Terror of the Air'' by William Le Queux (1920) * ''The Flying Submarine'' by Ivan Petrushevich (1922) * '' The Absolute at Large'' (1922) by

Karel Čapek Karel Čapek (; 9 January 1890 – 25 December 1938) was a Czech writer, playwright, critic and journalist. He has become best known for his science fiction, including his novel '' War with the Newts'' (1936) and play '' R.U.R.'' (''Rossum' ...

* '' Beneath an Ardent sun'' (1923) by Sir Frank James Fox * '' The Moon Men'' by

(1925) * '' The Tunnel Thru the Air; Or, Looking Back from 1940'' by William Delbert Gann (1927) * ''

Armageddon 2419 A.D. ''Armageddon 2419 A.D.'' is a science fiction novella by Philip Francis Nowlan that first appeared in the August 1928 issue of the pulp magazine ''Amazing Stories''. A sequel called '' The Airlords of Han'' was published in the March 1929 issue ...

'' by

Philip Francis Nowlan Philip Francis Nowlan (; November 13, 1888 – February 1, 1940) was an American science fiction writer, best known as the creator of Buck Rogers. Biography Nowlan was born on November 13, 1888. While attending the University of Pennsylvania, No ...

(1928) * ''The Airlords of Han'' by

(1929) * '' The Red Napoleon'' by

Floyd Gibbons Floyd Phillips Gibbons (July 16, 1887 – September 23, 1939) was the war correspondent for the ''Chicago Tribune'' during World War I. One of radio's first news reporters and commentators, he was famous for a fast-talking delivery style. Floyd ...

(1929) * '' War with the Newts'' (1936) by

* ''Fools' Harvest'' (1939) by

Erle Cox Erle Cox (15 August 1873 – 20 November 1950) was an Australian journalist and science fiction writer. Life Cox was born at Emerald Hill, Victoria, on 15 August 1873, the second son of Ross Cox, who had emigrated from his native Dublin, Ir ...

* '' The Death Guard'' by Philip George Chadwick (1939) * '' Sixth Column'' by

(1941) * ''

'' by

(1951) * '' The Mouse That Roared'' (1955) '' Leonard Wibberley'' * ''

Not This August ''Not This August'', also known as ''Christmas Eve'', is a Hugo Award shortlisted science fiction novel by Cyril M. Kornbluth. It was originally published in 1955 by Doubleday. It was serialized in ''Maclean's'' magazine (Canada) in May and J ...

'' by C.M. Kornbluth (1955) * ''Point Ultimate'' by Jerry Sohl (1955) * ''A Piece of Resistance'' (1970) by Clive Egleton * ''The First Team'' (1971) by John Ball * ''Vandenberg'' (1971) by Oliver Lange * '' Rule Britannia (novel)'' (1972) by

Daphne du Maurier Dame Daphne du Maurier, Lady Browning, (; 13 May 1907 – 19 April 1989) was an English novelist, biographer and playwright. Her parents were actor-manager Gerald du Maurier, Sir Gerald du Maurier and his wife, actress Muriel Beaumont. Her gra ...

* ''Operaatio Finlandia'' by Arto Paasilinna (1972) *'' The Texas-Israeli War: 1999'' (1974) by Jake Saunders (writer) and

Howard Waldrop Howard Waldrop (September 15, 1946 – January 14, 2024) was an American science fiction author who worked primarily in short fiction. He received the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement in 2021. Early life Born in Houston, Mississippi, ...

* ''The Third World War: August 1985'' (1978) and '' The Third World War: The Untold Story'' (1982) by General Sir John Hackett * ''A Nasty Little War'' (1979) by Page Michael * '' The Survivalist'' series (1981–1993) by Jerry Ahern * '' Red Storm Rising'' (1986) by

Tom Clancy Thomas Leo Clancy Jr. (April 12, 1947 – October 1, 2013) was an American novelist. He is best known for his technically detailed espionage and military science, military-science storylines set during and after the Cold War. Seventeen of ...

* '' Red Army (novel)'' (1989) by Ralph Peters * '' The War in 2020'' (1991) Ralph Peters * '' Cauldron (Bond novel)'' (1993) by Larry Bond * '' Tomorrow'' series (1993–1999) by John Marsden * '' Debt of Honor'' (1994)

* ''

The Ashes The Ashes is a Test cricket series played biennially between England and Australia. The term originated in a satirical obituary published in a British newspaper, '' The Sporting Times'', immediately after Australia's 1882 victory at The Oval, ...

'' series (1983–2003) by William W. Johnstone * ''Protect and Defend'' (1999) by Eric L. Harry * '' Invasion (Harry novel)'' by Eric L. Harry (2000) * ''

The Bear and the Dragon ''The Bear and the Dragon'' is a techno-thriller novel, written by Tom Clancy and released on August 21, 2000. A direct sequel to ''Executive Orders'' (1996), President Jack Ryan (character), Jack Ryan deals with a war between Russia and China, r ...

'' (2000)

Footnotes

References

* * * *

External links

*Clarke, I.F., 1997
"Future War Fiction"
An award-winning essay. *Clarke, I.F., 1997

* George Tomkyns Chesney (1871)
''The Battle of Dorking''
London, G. Richards ltd., 1914, introduction by G. H. Powell. From

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

. *Patrick M. Kirkwood
"The Impact of Fiction on Public Debate in Late Victorian Britain: The Battle of Dorking and the 'Lost Career' of Sir George Tomkyns Chesney"
The Graduate History Review 4, No. 1 (Fall, 2012), 1-16. {{DEFAULTSORT:Invasion Literature Fiction by genre Science fiction genres