357:
280:
the soldiers and is killed. After this happens the soldiers try to discover the reason behind
Hermann and Alfred being there, but are unsuccessful. A soldier then kicks Hermann's corpse, causing Alfred to fly into a rage and get beaten into unconsciousness; the beating is so bad that Alfred wakes up in hospital two days later and gets to talk to Fred one last time about continuing his work just before he dies of his injuries.
255:, it is said. In this world Hitler is seen as a seven foot tall, long blonde-haired, blue-eyed man who was “exploded” from the head of God the Thunderer and was a god in his own right. He is preached about by "Knights" (a cross between the traditional, feudal knight and a priest) who pass this job down from father to son.
263:
itself – and also anything that revealed life before the empire or during Hitler's life. An ancestor of von Hess wrote about the truth and entrusted the secret to his descendants as he also obtained and preserved a picture of Hitler and a young blonde woman that Alfred originally mistakes for Hitler.
279:
with the book, where he starts teaching his son from it. A few weeks after finishing the book Alfred, his son and
Hermann (who followed Alfred to Britain) are almost caught by Nazi soldiers. While Fred (Alfred's son) escapes with the book, Hermann and Alfred are discovered, whereupon Hermann charges
258:
When Alfred arrives at his Nazi friend
Hermann's village, he meets the Knight there, an old man by the name of Friedrich von Hess; Hermann works on this Knight's land. The Knight reveals to Alfred about how history was distorted by a man who even when confronted by the truth proclaimed Hitler a god.
271:
from where they cannot escape and are seen as little more than animals. He also vows that he shall teach what is in his book to his fellow
Englishmen and others so that eventually they can cause the shattering of the German Empire as the belief that holds it together falls apart. He presses that it
209:
Set hundreds of years in the future, this dystopia envisions a sterile, dying Nazi Reich in which Jews have long since been eradicated, Christians are marginalised, and Hitler is venerated as a God. A "cult of masculinity" prevails, homosexuality has become the norm, and a "reduction of women" has
29:
250:
aerodrome. Alfred comes to
Germany on a holy pilgrimage to see the holy sites of Hitlerism, the religion in this Nazi-dominated world. These sites include the holy forest and the sacred aeroplane in Munich with which Hitler won the Twenty Years' War by personally flying to
246:, though at the time of its writing the war had not broken out and it was a work of speculative future fiction.) It follows the protagonist Alfred, an Englishman in his 30s who works as a ground mechanic for the German Empire in the
488:
219:, published more than a decade later: the past has been destroyed and history is rewritten, language is distorted, few books exist apart from propaganda, and a secret book is the only witness to the past.
267:
Alfred then vows to return women to how they should be as in the novel they have become ugly things, with shaved heads and no self-respect, used solely for reproduction and kept in a place called the
610:
641:
264:
This convinces the already sceptical Alfred that Hitler was not a god when he sees that Hitler was a small, brown-haired man with a paunch.
295:
as "a scathing feminist anatomy of war, sexism and power" and lists the novel as one of the "classic titles" of inter-war science fiction.
701:
370:
676:
385:
671:
210:
occurred: deprived of all rights, women are kept in concentration camps, their sole value residing in their reproductive roles.
472:
272:
must be an ideological, spiritual rebellion as a violent rebellion would be crushed by the occupation armies of the
Germans.
661:
191:" is realised. Forgotten for many years, until republication in 1985 in England and the United States, literary historian
706:
691:
611:
https://ia902803.us.archive.org/17/items/SwastikaNightKatherineBurdekin/Swastika%20Night%20-%20Katherine%20Burdekin.pdf
696:
342:
124:
310:, Thomas Horan argues that Burdekin introduces sociopolitical enlightenment, ethics, and hope via "queer desire".
299:
stated "Burdekin's pre-war story reads as horribly prescient and its feminist emphasis ... provides a very valid
569:
520:
445:
420:
380:
296:
656:
146:
666:
259:
The writing of this man's book caused the Nazis to burn everything that contradicted the fact – even the
681:
686:
179:, writing under the pseudonym Murray Constantine. First published in 1937 and subsequently as a
598:
462:
590:
487:
For a comparative reading of these elements of the two dystopias, see George McKay (1994).
238:
defeated their enemies and conquered the world (from a modern perspective, the novel is an
215:
8:
72:
586:
176:
42:
591:
565:
533:
516:
468:
441:
416:
338:
239:
131:
119:
157:
52:
375:
268:
247:
235:
557:
321:
276:
180:
92:
650:
362:
300:
260:
243:
231:
200:
188:
184:
623:
138:
489:'Metapropaganda - self-reading dystopian fiction: Katharine Burdekin's
408:
288:
192:
103:
62:
203:
356:
440:. London: Continuum International Publishing Group. p. 138.
324:
selection in 1940—one of the few works of fiction thus honoured.
28:
252:
132:
158:
308:
Desire and
Empathy in Twentieth-Century Dystopian Fiction
464:
Women, Science and
Fiction: The Frankenstein Inheritance
314:
has been described as a "pioneering feminist critique".
438:
English
Fiction in the 1930s: Language, Genre, History
534:"Katharine Burdekin's Swastika Night, a Gay Romance"
352:
183:selection in 1940, the novel depicts a world where
213:The novel bears striking similarities to Orwell's
648:
275:Towards the end of the novel Alfred returns to
562:The Cambridge Companion to Utopian Literature
413:Science Fiction: The Illustrated Encyclopedia
560:, "The Origins of Dystopia" in Claeys,(ed.)
27:
415:. Dorling Kindersley. pp. 121, 215.
371:Hypothetical Axis victory in World War II
386:Sex and sexuality in speculative fiction
175:is a futuristic novel by British writer
585:
467:. Palgrave Macmillan UK. pp. 42–.
460:
454:
435:
649:
622:
597:. Chicago: Shasta Publishers. p.
337:: Old Westbury: Feminist Press: 1985:
199:as "the most original of all the many
593:The Checklist of Fantastic Literature
407:
187:'s claim that Nazism would create a "
403:
401:
13:
579:
564:Cambridge University Press, 2010.
14:
718:
702:Works published under a pseudonym
635:
398:
230:takes place in a world where the
355:
222:
16:1937 novel by Katharine Burdekin
677:Feminist science fiction novels
616:
327:
672:British science fiction novels
551:
526:
513:The History of Science Fiction
505:
481:
429:
1:
461:D. Shaw (19 September 2000).
391:
381:Gender in speculative fiction
283:
7:
662:1937 science fiction novels
348:
10:
723:
707:Victor Gollancz Ltd books
692:Novels about Nazi Germany
156:
144:
130:
118:
110:
98:
88:
78:
68:
58:
48:
38:
26:
697:British political novels
500:Science-Fiction Studies
436:Hopkins, Chris (2006).
242:in which the Nazis won
515:. Palgrave Macmillan.
493:and George Orwell's
333:Katherine Burdekin:
216:Nineteen Eighty-Four
206:of the late 1930s."
657:1937 British novels
628:The House of Rumour
301:critique of fascism
189:Thousand Year Reich
73:Victor Gollancz Ltd
23:
667:Anti-fascist books
177:Katharine Burdekin
164:PR6003.U45 S8 1985
43:Murray Constantine
21:
474:978-0-230-28734-1
306:In his monograph
240:alternate history
168:
167:
89:Publication place
714:
682:Dystopian novels
631:
602:
596:
587:Bleiler, Everett
573:
555:
549:
548:
546:
544:
530:
524:
509:
503:
502:21(3): November.
485:
479:
478:
458:
452:
451:
433:
427:
426:
405:
365:
360:
359:
269:women's quarters
160:
134:
80:Publication date
31:
24:
20:
722:
721:
717:
716:
715:
713:
712:
711:
647:
646:
638:
619:
582:
580:Further reading
577:
576:
556:
552:
542:
540:
532:
531:
527:
511:Roberts, Adam.
510:
506:
486:
482:
475:
459:
455:
448:
434:
430:
423:
406:
399:
394:
376:Esoteric Nazism
361:
354:
351:
330:
286:
236:Empire of Japan
225:
149:
99:Media type
81:
34:
22:Swastika Night
17:
12:
11:
5:
720:
710:
709:
704:
699:
694:
689:
687:English novels
684:
679:
674:
669:
664:
659:
645:
644:
642:Feminist Press
637:
636:External links
634:
633:
632:
618:
615:
614:
613:
608:Swastika Night
604:
603:
581:
578:
575:
574:
558:Gregory Claeys
550:
525:
504:
491:Swastika Night
480:
473:
453:
446:
428:
421:
396:
395:
393:
390:
389:
388:
383:
378:
373:
367:
366:
350:
347:
346:
345:
335:Swastika Night
329:
326:
322:Left Book Club
318:Swastika Night
312:Swastika Night
293:Swastika Night
285:
282:
228:Swastika Night
224:
221:
197:Swastika Night
195:has described
181:Left Book Club
172:Swastika Night
166:
165:
162:
154:
153:
150:
145:
142:
141:
136:
128:
127:
122:
116:
115:
112:
108:
107:
100:
96:
95:
93:United Kingdom
90:
86:
85:
82:
79:
76:
75:
70:
66:
65:
60:
56:
55:
50:
46:
45:
40:
36:
35:
32:
15:
9:
6:
4:
3:
2:
719:
708:
705:
703:
700:
698:
695:
693:
690:
688:
685:
683:
680:
678:
675:
673:
670:
668:
665:
663:
660:
658:
655:
654:
652:
643:
640:
639:
629:
625:
621:
620:
612:
609:
606:
605:
600:
595:
594:
588:
584:
583:
571:
567:
563:
559:
554:
539:
535:
529:
522:
518:
514:
508:
501:
498:
496:
492:
484:
476:
470:
466:
465:
457:
449:
443:
439:
432:
424:
418:
414:
410:
404:
402:
397:
387:
384:
382:
379:
377:
374:
372:
369:
368:
364:
363:Novels portal
358:
353:
344:
343:0-935312-56-0
340:
336:
332:
331:
325:
323:
319:
315:
313:
309:
304:
302:
298:
294:
290:
281:
278:
273:
270:
265:
262:
256:
254:
249:
245:
241:
237:
233:
229:
223:Plot synopsis
220:
218:
217:
211:
207:
205:
202:
198:
194:
190:
186:
182:
178:
174:
173:
163:
161:
159:LC Class
155:
151:
148:
147:Dewey Decimal
143:
140:
137:
135:
129:
126:
125:0-935312-56-0
123:
121:
117:
113:
109:
105:
101:
97:
94:
91:
87:
83:
77:
74:
71:
67:
64:
61:
57:
54:
51:
47:
44:
41:
37:
33:First edition
30:
25:
19:
627:
624:Arnott, Jake
617:Mentioned in
607:
592:
561:
553:
541:. Retrieved
538:ResearchGate
537:
528:
512:
507:
499:
494:
490:
483:
463:
456:
437:
431:
412:
334:
328:Bibliography
317:
316:
311:
307:
305:
297:Adam Roberts
292:
287:
274:
266:
257:
244:World War II
227:
226:
214:
212:
208:
201:anti-fascist
196:
185:Adolf Hitler
171:
170:
169:
18:
409:Clute, John
152:823/.912 19
651:Categories
630:. Sceptre.
570:0521886651
521:0333970225
447:0826489389
422:0751302023
392:References
291:described
289:John Clute
193:Andy Croft
543:1 January
284:Reception
248:Salisbury
204:dystopias
69:Publisher
63:Dystopian
626:(2012).
589:(1948).
572:(p.126).
523:(p.171).
411:(1995).
349:See also
139:12162019
104:Hardback
49:Language
277:Britain
102:Print (
53:English
568:
519:
471:
444:
419:
341:
320:was a
253:Moscow
114:287 pp
39:Author
232:Nazis
111:Pages
59:Genre
566:ISBN
545:2021
517:ISBN
495:1984
469:ISBN
442:ISBN
417:ISBN
339:ISBN
261:book
234:and
133:OCLC
120:ISBN
84:1937
303:."
653::
599:83
536:.
400:^
601:.
547:.
497:.
477:.
450:.
425:.
106:)
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
