Journey to Infinity. Adventures in Science Fiction Series. Edited by Martin Greenberg. Introduced by Fletcher Pratt. Cleve Cartmill, Jack Wiliamson, John D. MacDonald, Edward E. Smith, Ph.d., Frederic Brown, Isaac Asimov, Judith Merril, A. Bertram Chandler, Fritz Leiber, C. L. Moore, Eric Frank Russell, Theodore Sturgeon.

New York: Gnome Press, (!951). First Edition. Octavo, hardcover (green cloth & gray boards), silver letters, 381 pp. Near Fine, with inked price to ffep., in a Good, mylar protected dust jacket with edgewear that includes light chipping and foxing (age darkened spotting). From dust jacket: This is an unusual book. It tells the greatest adventure story in the Universe -- the story of Mankind. Stretching from the mysterious past to the mysterious future, no other subject has more fascination for reader or writer. Twelve stories have been assembled here in a unique pattern. By careful selection, these stories by the foremost authors of science fiction relate an imaginative history of Man. Forgotten events and future deeds are fitted together for an exciting and fantastic account of speculation and prophecy in human life. The first anthology to develop this idea of a unifying theme was Men Against the Stars, the first in the series of Adventures in Science Fiction. Opinion was unanimous in accepting it as an outstanding success among science fiction anthologies. This latest book is a worthy successor. The book begins its imaginative history with False Dawn, by A. Bertram Chandler. This is an echo of the forgotten past, when early men built themselves a civilization as modern as today’s., In these second story, Atlantis, by Edward E. Smith, Ph.D., another great culture is created out of savagery. But technician though Man is, he has yet to conquer his own mad desires. A pattern in progress is now evident and Letter to a Phoenix, by Fredric Brown, reveals its amazing extent and complexity. At last, on the verge of conquering space, twentieth century Man overcomes his greatest obstacle to his way of life -- himself. Unite and Conquer, by Theodore Sturgeon, prepares Mankind for the space frontiers of the Solar System. With the planets colonized, Breakdown, by Jack Williamson, tells what happens in the twenty-first century when the spacemen’s union is the most influential force in the interplanetary community. Spaceships now head out into interstellar regions, brought about by the irresistible appeal in Dance of a New World, by John D. MacDonald. The Golden Age, however, produced another crisis and the Solar Empire began to crumble. The colonists forsake Mother Earth, by Isaac Asimov, and marauders appear. When the last terrestrial patrols in the last outposts are recalled, it is obvious that There Shall Be Darkness, by C. L. Moore. The reign of terror finally receded and Mankind, in Taboo, by Fritz Leiber, began to rebuild from the ashes of the past. The cycle was completed again by world unity created with the Overthrow, by Cleve Cartmill. The journey to infinity, now cosmic in scope, faced a strange termination. Barrier of Dread, by Judith Merril, confronts Mankind with the latest problem and a difficult choice. Man at last adapts himself to a peaceful instability until the final drive for universal dominance. Metamorphosite, by Eric Frank Russell, ends the future history with a fascinating story about the re-discovery of the forgotten inheritance of Mankind.