The Hopkins Manuscript
The Hopkins Manuscript is a social-political dystopian novel written by R. C. Sherriff in 1939.[1] Originally titled An Ordinary Man, the novel was published under its present title by Victor Gollancz, then republished by The Macmillan Company in 1963, before being reprinted by Persephone Books in 2002.[2][3]
Set on the eve of World War II, the novel describes how the nations of the world, previously bent on destroying each other, band together to meet a common catastrophe.
The story takes place in Notting Hill, west London, where the main character, Edgar Hopkins, writes his own narrative about a lunar catastrophe in which the moon collides with the Earth. The foreword takes the perspective of an academic society 1,000 years in the future finding the manuscript as an historical document. Edgar, an active member of London's prestigious Lunar Society, learns of the impending doom through the society's astronomical meetings, and writes his narrative on the unfolding events.[4]
References
- FitzHerbert, Claudia (5 September 2009). "Endpaper" – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
- http://www.persephonebooks.co.uk/the-hopkins-manuscript.html
- "Publisher Gollancz: Books Published in 1939". www.isfdb.org.
- "Books: Moonstruck". Time. July 31, 1939.