The Dominion of the World 1: The Plutocratic Plot

The Dominion of the World (1900) represents a transition from classic Vernian anticipation to the pulp serials of the 1920s and 1930s. It is also the only science fiction work that sought to dramatize the “Transatlantic Peril”, positing a fundamental difference of culture and attitude between the United States and Europe. Despite some of its outlandishness, hindsight has lent the world imagined by Gustave Guitton and Gustave Le Rouge (The Vampires of Mars) a certain prophetic quality. In Volume 1, a secret cabal of American billionaires, led by William Boltyn, would like nothing more than to crush Europe, or at least subject it to harsh economic domination, and eventually become masters of the world. To that end, they scheme to use a deadly array of highly advanced weapons invented by Engineer Hattison and an army of psychics under the command of the sinister Harry Madge. Their grand plan, however, is opposed by the heroic endeavors of a handful of Frenchmen…