F****our speculative stories of disasters, dystopias and destroyed civilisationsJohn Christopher is probably best known for his seminal science ficion novel The Death of Grass and his ‘Tripods’ trilogy for young adults, which was adapted for BBC TV and became a cult classic. Alongside John Wyndham, he was one of the foremost exponents of ‘disaster fiction’, and these four fantastic productions all centre around post-apocalyptic themes – from deadly disease...

A thought experiment in future-shock survivalism' Robert MacFarlane'Gripping ... of all science fiction's apocalypses, this is one of the most haunting' Financial TimesWITH AN INTRODUCTION BY ROBERT MACFARLANEA post-apocalyptic vision of the world pushed to the brink by famine, John Christopher's science fiction masterpiece The Death of Grass includes an introduction by Robert MacFarlane in Penguin Modern Classics....

The Fratellini Winter they had called it, after the Italian scientist who had first detected the decline in solar radiation.The seasons pass and the cold bites ever harder. The Thames freezes over, stocks of food and fuel run low, and London falls under martial law. That first arctic winter, it seems, was only the beginning, the herald of the incoming Ice Age.Andrew Leedon has problems of his own. Forced out of his marriage, he joins the exodus of the privileged few with th...

One night, the island of Guernsey convulsed. As shock followed shock, the landscape tilted violently in defiance of gravity. When dawn came and the quakes had stilled to tremblings, Matthew Cotter gazed out in disbelief at the pile of rubble that had been his home. The greenhouses which had provided his livelihood were a lake of shattered glass, the tomato plants a crush of drowned vegetation spotted and splodged with red.Wandering in a daze of bewilderment through the devastation,...

When the alien Tripod machines land on Earth, they don't seem much of a threat. The first skirmishes end in victory for the human forces. But the real danger - the insidious mind-controlling powers of the Tripod Masters - is only just beginning. Laurie and his family must flee their homes as the invaders tighten their tentacled grip - and find a place to start the fight back...The thrilling and eerie prequel John Christopher's classic dystopian Tripods series is available for the f...

A disparate group of Londoners are brought together by Sweeney, a mysteriously charismatic man of wealth, for a luxury cruise in the South Pacific – they know not why. Sailing far from the normal shipping routes, the ship weighs anchor just off an uninhabited tropical island. Whilst its passengers are ashore exploring, the ship catches fire and sinks beneath the waves.With no means of communication with the outside world and no hope of rescue, passengers and crew must find a way to...

When the storm rages and the avalanche cuts off power and phone lines, no one in the chalet is particularly bothered. There are kerosene lamps, a well-stocked bar and food supplies more than adequate to last them till the road to Nidenhaut can be opened up. They're on holiday after all, and once the weather clears they can carry on skiing.They do not know, then, that deep within the Swiss Alps, something alien has stirred: an invasion so sly it can only be detected by principled re...

Five people enter the Frohnberg caves, three men and two women. In the glare of the Austrian sunshine, the cool underground depths seem an attractive proposition – until the collapse of a cave wall blocks their return to the outside world. Faced with an unexplored warren of tunnels and caves, rivers and lakes, twisting and ramifying under the mountain range, they can only hope that there is an exit to be found on the other side.For Cynthia, the journey through the dark labyrinths m...

Before the emergence of the steam railway rocketed the likes of Isambard Kingdom Brunel and Robert Stephenson – the great Victorian engineers – into the limelight, there was a ‘Colossus’ who dominated the engineering scene and laid the foundations for what was to follow. Thomas Telford built a series of ambitious road and canal projects, as well as many notable bridges – including the ground-breaking Menai Suspension Bridge – numerous harbour works and buildings. Contrasting old and new im...

Intended for the British Army as a contract for a small, Jeep-like, air-portable vehicle, the Mini Moke was a failure at this role and found its success as a fun, sunshine toy, equally at home on the beach as in the mountains. Over 50,000 were made and many still survive. Its most famous role was in the cult TV series The Prisoner. The Moke was manufactured in Britain and later in Australia and Portugal. With Mini running gear, the Moke is a practical and fun vehicle for the summer and thi...

Nobody knows how long it has been since the Tripods came. Nobody remembers life on Earth before they enslaved it. Humans live in scattered farms and villages, kept quiet and obedient by the mind-controlling Caps implanted when they reach their teens.Will Parker's time is fast approaching - but a chance encounter with a madman convinces him that it may still be possible to resist the alien masters. So begins an epic tale of survival and defiance - and Will's journey to the White Mou...

Will Parker and his friends have escaped the mind-controlling alien Tripods, and found sanctuary in the White Mountains - but when an opportunity arises for them to infiltrate a Tripod city, they realise they have a chance to strike back against the invaders. What they learn there may hold the key to liberating humanity - if they can survive the beauty and terror of the City of Gold and Lead.The second book in John Christopher's classic dystopian series is available for the first t...