George Griffith - Wikipedia https://en.m.wikipedia.

org/wiki/George_Griffith

George Griffith
(20 August 1857 – 4 June 1906) was a British writer. He was
active mainly in the science fiction genre—or as it was known at the time, scientific romance—in
particular writing many future-war stories and playing a significant role in shaping that emerging
subgenre. For a short period of time, he was the leading science fiction author in his home
country both in terms of popularity and commercial success.

Griffith grew up with his parents and older brother, receiving home-schooling and moving
frequently during his childhood due to his father's career as a clergyman. Following his father's
death when Griffith was 14 years old, he went to school for little over a year before leaving
England and travelling the world, returning at the age of 19. He then worked as a teacher for ten
years before pursuing a career in writing. After an initial setback that left Griffith without the
means to provide for himself, he was hired by the publisher C. Arthur Pearson in 1890. Griffith
made his literary breakthrough with his debut novel (1893), which was
serialized in before being published in book format. He signed a contract of
exclusivity with Pearson and followed it up with the likewise successful sequel
(1894).

Griffith was highly active as a writer throughout the 1890s, producing numerous serials and short
stories for Pearson's various publications. He also wrote non-fiction for Pearson and went on
various travel assignments. Among these were an 1894 publicity stunt in which he
circumnavigated the world in 65 days, an 1895 journey to South America where he covered the
various revolutionary movements active there at the time, and an 1896 trip to Southern Africa
that resulted in Griffith writing the novel (1897) anticipating the outbreak of the
Boer War (1899–1902). Griffith's career declined in the latter part of the 1890s, and he was
surpassed by H. G. Wells as the favourite science fiction writer of both Pearson and the reading
public. His last outright success was (1901), and he parted ways with
Pearson shortly thereafter. With his health in decline, likely due to alcoholism, he continued
writing prolifically up until his death at the age of 48.

Griffith was both successful and influential as a writer at the peak of his career, but he has since
descended into obscurity. Retrospective assessments have found his works to have been timely
and prescient—in particular with regard to the importance of aerial warfare—but not timeless, and
he is commonly regarded as a relatively poor writer, especially when compared to his main rival
Wells. He regularly incorporated his personal viewpoints into his fiction, and anti-American

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sentiments expressed in this way ensured that

he never established a readership in the United
States as publishers there would not print his
works. He was irreligious and in his youth
advocated fiercely for secularism. Politically,
Griffith was early an outspoken socialist,
though he is believed to have gradually shifted
towards more right-leaning sympathies later in
his life. Socially, he has been described as
embodying Victorian ideals, including social
conservatism and staunch pro-British views.

Biography

Griffith, frontispiece of his book

, 1901

George Chetwynd Griffith-Jones was born in George Chetwynd

Plymouth, Devon, on 20 August 1857.[1] His Griffith-Jones
20 August 1857
parents were the clergyman George Alfred
Plymouth, Devon,
Jones and Jeanette Henry Capinster Jones. England
[2]: 183 [3]: 44 The family, which also included
4 June 1906
Griffith's older brother, moved repeatedly
(aged 48)
during his childhood due to his father's career. Port Erin, Isle of Man
[3]: 44 [4]: 104 They moved from Plymouth to Tring,
Lara, Levin Carnac,
Hertfordshire, in 1860, then on to two poverty- Stanton Morich
stricken parishes in the Greater Manchester
Writer
area: first to Ashton-under-Lyne in 1861, and
then to Mossley, where his father was English

appointed vicar in 1864.[2]: 184 [3]: 44

(1893)
As the family's financial situation did not allow (1897)
for the formal education of two sons, Griffith
(1901)
was home-schooled,[4]: 104 with his mother
teaching him French and his father Latin and Elizabeth Brierly (m. 1887)

Greek.[2]: 184 He also spent considerable time 3, including Alan

exploring his father's extensive library, which Arnold

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was filled with the works of authors who would later serve as Griffith's literary influences,
including Walter Scott and Jules Verne.[2]: 184 [4]: 104 Following the death of his father in January
1872, he started studying at a private school in Southport at the age of 14.[2]: 184 There the limits
of his home-schooling soon became apparent, the lack of any mathematical proficiency in
particular, but through concerted effort he progressed to being the second-best pupil in his class.
[2]: 184 [5]: 20

Griffith left the school

Then I went to another school, or perhaps I should put it more
after 15 months, out
correctly if I said that I matriculated in the greatest of all universities
of economic
—the world. I went to sea as an apprentice on a Liverpool lime-juicer
necessity—his father
... In the seventy-eight days between Liverpool and Melbourne I
had left behind less
learnt more of the world than I had learnt in fourteen years, but the
than £300, all of
methods of tuition didn't suit me. The learning was hammered in a
which went to his wife
little too hard, mostly with a rope's end and the softest part of a
in the absence of a
belaying pin, so I took French leave of that class-room and went to
will—and joined a
another; in plain English, I ran away from my ship and went up in the
sailing ship as an
bush.
apprentice at the age
of 15.[2]: 184 [5]: 20 He George Griffith, quoted in Sam Moskowitz,
[2]: 184–185
deserted his ship in
Melbourne after 11
weeks at sea, having
found the experience highly instructive but the corporal punishment in particular gruelling.
[2]: 184–185 He then took various employments in Australia—chiefly manual labour, but also briefly
serving as a tutor—before using his earnings to travel.[4]: 104 [6]: 67 He later claimed both to have
received an offer to marry a Polynesian princess[4]: 104 and to have circumnavigated the globe six
times; about the latter, the science fiction historian Sam Moskowitz says that "the variety of
locales for his stories would tend to substantiate this claim."[7]: 79 He returned to England at the
age of 19.[4]: 104

Griffith started working as a schoolmaster in 1877, six months after his return to England,
teaching English at the preparatory school Worthing College in Sussex.[2]: 185 [6]: 67 [8]: 302/397 At this
time, he had no formal qualifications and studied at night to be able to give lessons in the
daytime.[2]: 185 [5]: 20–21 [6]: 67 [9]: 312 He left Worthing to study at a university in Germany, returning a

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year later to teach at Brighton.[2]: 185 [5]: 21 [6]: 67 He continued to study at nights to get the
necessary teaching diplomas for a career in education.[3]: 44 [5]: 21 He started his writing career
while at Brighton, writing for local papers among others.[2]: 185 [3]: 44 [6]: 67 He then took a job
teaching at Bolton Grammar School in 1883, and while there published his first two books: the
poetry collections (1883) and (1884), both published under his pen name
Lara.[2]: 185 [5]: 21 [8]: 302/397 There he met Elizabeth Brierly (1861–1933); they married in February
1887 and eventually had two sons and a daughter.[2]: 185 [4]: 104 He passed the College of
Preceptors exam the same year, thus completing his formal education in teaching, and promptly
left that line of work in favour of pursuing a career in writing.[3]: 45 [4]: 104 He would later describe
his time working as a teacher as "ten years' penal servitude".[6]: 67

Griffith and Brierly moved to London, where he started working as a journalist at a paper in 1888.
[2]: 185 [4]: 104 [8]: 302/397 He worked his way up to become the magazine's editor, and eventually took
over as owner.[2]: 185 At the time, Griffith was highly politically active, advocating for socialism
and secularism.[3]: 45 His political activism resulted in the paper being the target of a libel suit.
Griffith decided against hiring a lawyer, opting instead to represent himself, and ended up losing
the case which led to the paper going out of business.[2]: 185 [4]: 104 Griffith was thus unemployed,
and while he continued to pen political and religious pamphlets for a while as a freelancer, it was
not enough to provide a living.[3]: 45 [5]: 21 In 1889 he was involved in another court case against the
Member of Parliament and declared atheist Charles Bradlaugh, whom Griffith and William
Stewart Ross had criticized in among other publications a pamphlet titled
; Griffith won the case and was awarded £30 in
damages.[10]: 11 [11]: 10 [12]: 82–83, 294

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C. Arthur Pearson, whom Griffith

worked for throughout the 1890s

A friend of Griffith's wrote him a letter of introduction to the publisher C. Arthur Pearson.[2]: 186
[4]: 104 He got a job at the newly founded in 1890, initially tasked by the editor
Peter Keary with writing addresses on envelopes for the magazine's competitions.[2]: 186 [8]: 302/397
He made a good impression on Keary through his skill as a conversationalist, largely owing to his
background travelling the world, and was soon promoted to columnist.[2]: 186–187 He carried on in
this capacity for the rest of the decade.[2]: 187

Griffith made his literary breakthrough in 1893 with what was then known as a scientific romance
—an exciting adventure story, or "romance", with cutting-edge science playing a key role—and
would later be called science fiction.[4]: 104 [9]: 312–313 The future war genre had been popular since
the publication of George Tomkyns Chesney's novella "The Battle of Dorking" (1871), and the rival
magazine had just had a major success in the genre with the serialized novel
(1892) by Philip Howard Colomb.[2]: 188 Pearson wanted to capitalize on both
of these trends;[4]: 106 had from the start published short stories, and when the
staff discussed who among them might try their hand at a future-war serial, Griffith volunteered.
[2]: 187–188 He brought in a synopsis the following day, and got the assignment. The synopsis was
published in on 14 January 1893, before the story itself had been written.[2]: 188
The next week's edition saw the publication of the first of 39 weekly instalments of Griffith's
story, .[5]: 22 [13]: 54 The name of the author was not revealed until the
final issue on 14 October 1893.[2]: 191–192 The serial received positive reviews and the magazine

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saw a sharp increase in number of issues sold.[5]: 22 Griffith's first son was born during the
serialization on 13 June 1893 and named Alan Arnold Griffith, after two characters in
.[2]: 192 [14]: 256

The London-based Tower Publishing Company quickly secured the book rights to
, publishing an abridged hardcover edition in October 1893.[2]: 192 [15]: 303 The book
version was likewise a success, receiving rave reviews and becoming a best-seller; it was printed
in six editions within a year and at least eleven editions in total, and a review in
declared Griffith to be "a second Jules Verne".[2]: 192 [4]: 106 [5]: 23–24 [16]: 60 Pearson responded by
signing a contract of exclusivity with Griffith and providing him with a secretary for dictation.
[2]: 192 [4]: 106 [5]: 24 Griffith was then the most popular and commercially successful science fiction
author in the country.[2]: 182 [5]: 19 [17]: 39 was not, however, published in
the United States in either book or serial format.[4]: 106 [5]: 20 Due to anti-American sentiments
expressed in Griffith's work—in the story, the Constitution of the United States is physically
destroyed and it is stated that "there were few who in their hearts did not believe the Republic to
be a colossal fraud", for instance—US publishers wanted nothing to do with him or his stories.
[2]: 182, 190 None of Griffith's books were published in the US until more than half a century after his
death, and it would not be until 1902 that the first and only serial of his was published in a US
magazine.[a][2]: 214 [5]: 20 [16]: 65

The success of quickly led to the announcement of a sequel,

, in the 23 December 1893 issue of .[2]: 192–193 [3]: 47 It was
serialized in 32 instalments from 30 December 1893 to 4 August 1894,[13]: 54 and published in
hardcover format by Tower in November 1894 under the title .[2]: 197 The story was
another best-seller, though not quite reaching the heights achieved by its predecessor.[2]: 198 [7]: 79
It also received critical acclaim,[5]: 24 with a reviewer for declaring
Griffith "the English Jules Verne".[2]: 198 [5]: 19 Parallel to the serialization of ,
Griffith carried out a publicity stunt on behalf of Pearson by travelling around the world in as little
time as possible, emulating the fictional journey in Verne's
(1872).[2]: 195–196 [4]: 106 had serialized Elizabeth Bisland's 14 November 1889 –
30 January 1890 circumnavigation under the title "Round the World in 76 Days", starting with the
magazine's very first issue on 26 July 1890 and finishing on 25 October. Pearson thought Griffith
an ideal candidate for surpassing that accomplishment, given his experience travelling.[2]: 195
[4]: 106 [19] Griffith accomplished the feat in 65 days, starting on 12 March 1894 and finishing on 16
May.[2]: 196 The tale of his journey was told in in 14 parts between 2 June and 1

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September 1894, bearing the title "How I Broke the Record Round the World".[b][2]: 196 [19] Around
this time, he legally changed his name to George Griffith by deed poll.[1][20]: 16

Pearson tasked Griffith with writing a new future-war serial to boost sales of ,a
magazine he had acquired in mid-1893.[2]: 196–197 [3]: 48 [4]: 106 This became ,
serialized between 8 September 1894 and 23 March 1895.[1][4]: 106 [15]: 304 It was the last of
Griffith's stories to be published by Tower before the company folded in June 1896; while the
hardcover released in June 1895 sold well, he likely never received payment for it.[1][2]: 200 [21] The
story mostly reiterated the main points of on a smaller scale, and
while reviews were good, it was largely overshadowed by the release of .[2]: 197, 200
[3]: 48 [4]: 106 Griffith's next novel was the fantasy , serialized 2 February – 24
August 1895 in and published in book format by C. Arthur Pearson Ltd the
same year.[1][2]: 198–200 [4]: 106 It is a tale of an immortal, an intentional imitation of Edwin Lester
Arnold's (1890)—such imitation being common
in the literature of the time.[2]: 198–200 [3]: 49–50 [4]: 106 It was fairly well received by audiences, albeit
not as warmly as had been.[4]: 106

Griffith travelled to Peru on assignment in February 1895.[2]: 200 Large portions of the South
American continent were undergoing political turmoil at the time,[c] and Griffith covered the
various revolutionary factions in harshly critical terms, viewing them as aspiring oppressors.
[2]: 201 This appeared in in a three-article series called "Election by Bullet"
starting on 7 September 1895, after Griffith's return to England.[2]: 201 During his trip Griffith also
continued to write fiction, sending his works to England by boat.[2]: 200 Six short stories were thus
published under his pen name Levin Carnac in in April and May 1895.[2]: 200
Griffith later claimed to have found the source of the Amazon River;[22]: 1058 Moskowitz
speculates that this could have happened during this assignment.[2]: 213 His time in Peru also
inspired him to write , which he began working on during his return voyage.[2]: 201 [4]: 107
The story is a fantasy wherein the title character, an Inca princess, and her brother enter
suspended animation ahead of the Spanish conquest in the hopes of one day restoring their rule.
[1][2]: 201 [4]: 107 It was serialized in between 7 September and 21 December 1895, but
not published as a book until Griffith had found a new publisher to replace the defunct Tower
Publishing Company—Pearson having ceased to publish his works in book format.[2]: 201, 205 This
was to be F. V. White, introduced to him by William Le Queux—author of
(1894), and to whom Griffith had previously recommended Tower as a publisher.
[2]: 193, 200, 205 The story was published in book format under the title
in June 1897; White would publish the majority of Griffith's books thereafter.[2]: 205

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At this time, Pearson was expanding his business.[2]: 202–203 He launched a new all-serial
magazine called on 9 October 1895, for which Griffith wrote the historical
adventure story .[2]: 202 Pearson discovered new talents such as
Louis Tracy and attracted established ones to his ventures, and launched the monthly periodical
in January 1896, intended as a prestige competitor to .
[2]: 202–203 [3]: 50 Feeling that Griffith's serials were a poor fit for the new magazine, Pearson
relegated him to writing ancillary materials for the publication.[2]: 203–204 [3]: 50 These included a
March 1896 article harshly critical of US involvement in the construction of the Panama Canal
and of the Monroe Doctrine more generally, titled "The Grave of a Nation's Honour", and the short
story "A Genius for a Year" published under his pseudonym Levin Carnac in June 1896.[2]: 203–204
H. G. Wells, whose (1895) had been a great success, wrote "In the Abyss" for
the August 1896 issue of and quickly replaced Griffith as Pearson's favourite
science fiction writer.[2]: 204 [4]: 107 [18] During the second half of the 1890s, Wells also supplanted
Griffith as the best-selling science fiction writer, and the one most acclaimed by the public.[2]: 182
[4]: 106–107 [9]: 313 Pearson would go on to publish Wells's in
April–December 1897 and in 12 June – 7 August
1897 as well as in an expanded book format in September 1897; the enormous success of the
former meant Wells could work for whomever he pleased and name his price, and he would only
write sporadically for Pearson thereafter.[2]: 206–208 [4]: 107 [18]

Political map of Southern Africa in the

1890s. In pink: British possessions. In
orange: the Orange Free State. In
yellow: the Transvaal Republic. In
green: Portuguese possessions. In
purple: German South West Africa.

In 1896, Griffith went on another travel assignment for Pearson, this time to Southern Africa.
[2]: 204 [5]: 25 He had been asked to assess the political situation and write about possible future
developments, and was given free rein to travel the region to that end.[2]: 204 Griffith thus travelled
to the British colonies of Cape Colony and Natal, the British Bechuanaland Protectorate, the Boer

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republics of Transvaal and the Orange Free State, and Portuguese Mozambique.[2]: 204 He
interviewed among others Transvaal President Paul Kruger, and came to the conclusion that a
war between the British and the Boers was on the horizon.[2]: 204 He wrote about
such a war based on his research, and it was serialized in starting on 1 August
1896—three years before the outbreak of the real Boer War on 11 October 1899.[2]: 204 [3]: 50 The
serial concluded on 9 January 1897, and in February 1897 it became the first of Griffith's works
to be published in book format by F. V. White.[2]: 204–205 It sold well, with an eighth edition going
into print in May 1900.[2]: 204–205

By the late 1890s, Griffith's career was in decline.[2]: 212 [3]: 51 Pearson had promised him the
position of editor for a new publication with an international angle: , to be launched
in 1897; the magazine never went to press.[4]: 107 [16]: 66 Griffith nevertheless continued his prolific
writing, with his serial appearing in starting on 16 October 1897
and the short story "The Great Crellin Comet" appearing in the special Christmas issue[d] of
the same year.[2]: 209 [3]: 50 [4]: 107 The former was later published in book format
as by F. V. White in 1898, and the latter was included in Griffith's short story
collection , published by White in 1899.[4]: 107 [15]: 304–305 He returned to the
future war genre with , which was serialized in another of Pearson's
magazines, , 19 February – 23 July 1898.[1][2]: 211 It was a moderate commercial
success, and F. V. White published it in book format in 1899.[1][4]: 107

Feeling the need for a change of pace, Griffith then turned to writing historical novels.[2]: 212 [3]: 51
He next wrote , a fictionalized but non-fantastical account of Francisco
Pizarro's conquest of Peru in the 1530s, inspired by his South American journey a few years prior.
[1][2]: 212 Unusually, Pearson forwent serializing the story in favour of publishing it directly in book
format in April 1898.[2]: 212 [3]: 51 After this, Griffith wrote , about the fall of
Babylon in 539 BCE.[2]: 212 It was serialized in 8 October 1898 – 23 January
1899 and published in book format by Pearson in 1899.[2]: 212 [4]: 103 He also continued writing
short stories.[3]: 51 Among these were "A Corner in Lightning", wherein a man attempts to
monopolize the newly-widespread commodity of household electricity, published in
in March 1898;[4]: 107 [7]: 79–80 "Hellville, U.S.A.", a story of a penal colony in Arizona that
devolves into debauchery, published in on 6 August 1898;[2]: 211–212 [3]: 51 [4]: 107
and a series of detective stories appearing in .[3]: 51 "A Corner in Lightning" and
"Hellville, U.S.A." were included in alongside "A Genius for a Year" and "The
Great Crellin Comet" in 1899.[4]: 107 [15]: 305

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Original frontispiece to Griffith's

, by Harold H.
Piffard

By 1899, Griffith had moved from his Kensington home in London to Littlehampton to be able to
engage in sailing, a favourite pastime of his.[2]: 212 That year, he first appeared in the British
,[2]: 213 and wrote the short stories "The Conversion of the Professor" and "The Searcher of
Souls", published in the May issue of and the Christmas number of
, respectively.[3]: 51 [4]: 104 [15]: 305 Both stories would be incorporated into novels by Griffith
towards the end of his life: the former into (1906) and the latter
into (1905); the science fiction scholar Brian Stableford comments that this
was a forerunner to the concept of fix-up novels that would later become commonplace within
science fiction.[3]: 50–51 Griffith once again travelled abroad, this time to Australia, and unusually
at his own expense rather than as part of an assignment.[2]: 213 During his time there, he wrote
, a scientific romance novel about a newlywed couple traversing the Solar
System.[2]: 213 [4]: 107 In a first for Griffith, it was serialized in the upmarket —
albeit in an abridged form—in six parts under the title , January–July[e]
1900.[1][2]: 213 Pearson published the full story in book format under Griffith's original title in 1901.
[2]: 213 [4]: 103 It was the last outright success of Griffith's career.[3]: 51–52 [7]: 79

Following the turn of the century, Griffith and Pearson parted ways.[2]: 213–214 [3]: 51, 53 [4]: 108
Griffith's last piece of fiction writing published by Pearson was "The Raid of Le Vengeur" in
in February 1901 and his last non-fiction was an essay in
in November 1902.[2]: 214 Griffith nevertheless continued writing prolifically, though he did not
meet with much success.[3]: 51, 53 In 1901 he wrote two novels dealing with the occult—a subject
he had previously touched upon in in 1898— , which deals with

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hypnotism and spiritual possession, and , a story about an immortal that features
the legendary Wandering Jew as a side character.[2]: 214 [4]: 107 They were published by F. V. White
in April and Hutchinson in October, respectively; neither was serialized.[1][2]: 214 Supernatural and
otherwise fanciful elements also appeared in a couple of short stories in the later years of
Griffith's career: "The Lost Elixir" about an undead mummy, published in in
October 1903, and "From Pole to Pole" about a tunnel connecting the Earth's poles, published in
in October 1904.[4]: 107 Both were included in the Griffith short story
collection "The Raid of Le Vengeur and Other Stories", edited by Moskowitz and published in
1974.[4]: 107 [15]: 310

The twilight years of Griffith's career were marked by a return to the future war genre, a great
quantity of such stories being produced towards the end of his life.[2]: 214 [4]: 107–108 [5]: 25
, where the discovery of the titular reservoir results in a US syndicate conquering Europe,
became the only one of Griffith's works to be serialized in a US magazine[a] when it appeared in
in eight instalments between December 1902 and July 1903, and was published in book
format by White in 1903.[1][2]: 214 [15]: 307 , where the US similarly establishes
dominance by what describes as a disintegrator ray, was
published by John Long Ltd in 1903.[1][2]: 214–215 [4]: 103 , about the then-
ongoing Russo-Japanese War, was published by White in 1904.[3]: 53 [15]: 308 The year 1904 also
saw the publication by John Long of , where a war of South American
unification is financed by a lost race that lives underground.[1][3]: 53

Griffith's health was failing.[3]: 53 [5]: 25 With his

Virtually to his dying gasp, Griffith
finances likewise deteriorating as a result of
continued to dictate war after war,
decreasing book sales after 1904, he moved with
each to end all wars.
his family to Port Erin on the Isle of Man where the
cost of living was lower.[2]: 215 [5]: 25 He continued to Sam Moskowitz,
[2]: 216
write in spite of his worsening condition.[2]: 215–216
[5]: 25 Thus, when —
wherein weather control is weaponized—was
published by White in May 1906, Griffith was largely confined to his bed.[2]: 215 Griffith's last novel
was , which he dictated on his deathbed against his doctor's advice.[2]: 215 [4]: 108
[5]: 25 The story concerns a war between Britain and Germany, armed respectively with rifles firing
explosive radium pellets and a ray that turns metals brittle.[2]: 215–216 [3]: 53–54 [4]: 108 It was not
published until nearly five years after his death, by White on 11 February 1911, the last of several

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posthumous works by Griffith.[2]: 215–216 [3]: 54

Griffith died at his home in Port Erin on 4 June 1906, at the age of 48.[1][5]: 25 The death certificate
listed his cause of death as cirrhosis of the liver.[2]: 216 Moskowitz notes that malaria can have a
similar clinical presentation; Griffith had contracted malaria in Hong Kong, and the literary
biographer Peter Berresford Ellis writes that it at least contributed to his deteriorating condition.
Moskowitz nevertheless concludes—primarily from Griffith's self-description as "a waterlogged
derelict"—that his early death was most likely the result of alcoholism.[2]: 216 [5]: 25 As corroborating
evidence, Moskowitz cites an increasing prominence of alcohol in Griffith's later works and the
appearance of something akin to Alcoholics Anonymous in one of his books.[2]: 216 Stableford,
who similarly concludes that Griffith likely started consuming alcohol excessively no later than
the mid-1890s, additionally points to what he describes as "a seemingly alcoholic quality about
the garrulous fluency of his later works".[3]: 49

Legacy

In his time, Griffith was both

It almost seemed as though there was a conspiracy
successful and influential in his home
to see that his name was obliterated from the literary
country. Following the publication of
record.
in 1893,
Sam Moskowitz, writing in 1974 about the difficulty
he was the most popular science
of locating the necessary information for a biography
fiction writer in England until the
about Griffith.[10]: 6
appearance of H. G. Wells's
in 1895, and the best-selling
one until Wells's
was released in book format in 1898.[2]: 182 [5]: 19 [17]: 39 E. F. Bleiler, in the 1990 reference
work , comments that Griffith may be considered the first
professional English-language science fiction author.[15]: 302 He is credited by among others
and Don D'Ammassa with shaping the burgeoning future war
genre, in particular by engaging more with the political aspects,[1][23]: 168 [24]: 165 and Darren Harris-
Fain similarly writes that he played a key role in the development of the scientific romance genre.

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[4]: 104 More modestly, Brian Stableford writes that Griffith contributed to the establishment of a
new literary niche and laid the groundwork for more sophisticated exponents of the craft, but
concludes that it is likely that somebody else would have played that part if Griffith had not done
so.[3]: 54 On the subject of specific authors who were influenced by Griffith, Peter Berresford Ellis
lists several including M. P. Shiel and Fred T. Jane,[5]: 19 and Sam Moskowitz posits that George
du Maurier drew direct inspiration from sequence for (1895)
and (1898).[2]: 208–209 The Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction credits Griffith with
the first known use of several terms, including "death ray", "homeworld", and "space explorer".[25]

In spite of all this, Griffith and his works have now descended into obscurity, something several
modern writers have remarked upon as being peculiar.[2]: 182–183 [3]: 54 [5]: 19 A commonly cited
explanation is that his works were timely but not timeless; Moskowitz writes that "He has not
survived because his literary output was for the most part a reflection, not a shaper, of the
feelings of the period. He danced to the beat of the nearest drummer."[5]: 19–20 [9]: 313 [10]: 47 [26]: 379
The antiquarian bookseller Jeremy Parrott comments that the outbreak of World War I in 1914,
along with the development of powered flight and emergence of submarine warfare, quickly
rendered Griffith's visions of the future obsolete.[16]: 67–68 The publishing house Collector's Guide
Publishing further attributes it in part to the bankruptcy of the Tower Publishing Company in
1896 leaving his successful first three novels without a publisher thereafter.[21] Griffith's failure to
establish himself in the US has also been proposed as a contributing factor.[5]: 19–20

Later appraisals of Griffith's skill as a writer have often found it to be lacking. Bleiler summarizes
Griffith as "Historically important, but a bad writer technically";[15]: 302 Harris-Fain outlines his
principal failings as "an uninspired, if not clichéd, style, poor characterization, weak ideas, and
repetition".[4]: 108 Stableford calls Griffith "rather inept" and views him as lacking originality, noting
that he would often name his sources of inspiration outright;[3]: 45, 54
similarly describes him as borrowing themes "more conspicuously from earlier texts than
was the custom then".[1] Many have noted an apparent prioritization of quantity over quality
especially in the later years of his career,[3]: 54 [4]: 108 [24]: 167 and his earlier works are commonly
regarded as broadly superior to his later ones,[1][4]: 107 [11]: 12 with some critics such as Stableford
and Darko Suvin opining that he peaked as early as his debut novels in
sequence.[3]: 48–49 [8]: 303/398 Stableford comments that Griffith's second novel
left no room for further escalation in scope, and that toning the extravagance down for
later works drained his stories of their initial vibrancy.[3]: 48 Michael Moorcock, in the introduction

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to the 1975 anthology , calls Griffith "the first 'professional' science-fiction

writer", inasmuch as he wrote primarily for money and in service of his employers, and
comments that "any integrity that his earlier fiction had possessed was soon lost".[11]: 11–12 [21]
The serial format has also been noted as detrimental to the quality of several of his works: they
were written piece-by-piece to meet tight deadlines and provide cliffhangers, which resulted in
uneven pacing, poor structure, and unsatisfying resolutions.[2]: 195, 197 [3]: 48–49 Stableford further
identifies Griffith's apparent alcoholism as a likely cause of declining quality over time.[3]: 49

Among Griffith's strengths, a certain prescience is often cited.[1][2]: 182–183 [5]: 19–20, 22–23 [23]: 168
John McNabb writes that "Griffith was conscious of the possibilities of science and his
technological descriptions were informed by contemporary debate".[9]: 312 He is noted for
predicting technologies that had not yet been invented; among these are heavier-than-air aircraft,
radar, sonar, and air-to-surface missiles.[1][5]: 19, 22–23 [27]: 221 He is similarly credited with
anticipating developments in warfare, in particular the coming importance of aerial warfare,
[2]: 182–183 [5]: 19, 22–23 but also in terms of military tactics including the use of poison gas.[1]
[4]: 104–106 [23]: 168 He is recognized as having correctly predicted the outbreak of the Boer War,[3]: 50
[5]: 23, 25 [28] though Moskowitz comments that this did not require particularly keen foresight.
[2]: 204–205 Ellis writes that while Griffith's repeated motif of a war between Britain and the US
never came to pass, it has since been revealed that both countries did in fact plan for such an
eventuality up until the lead-up to World War II.[5]: 20, 22–23 Beyond this, Moskowitz finds Griffith to
exhibit "a fine imagination, a reasonably good flair for characterization, and an excellent
storyteller's sense of pace" while acknowledging that he lacked "the literary touch".[7]: 79 McNabb
similarly opines that "what Griffith lacked in literary style, he made up for in imaginative and
exuberant story telling", comparing him in this regard to Edgar Rice Burroughs.[9]: 313 Moskowitz
and Ellis both commend Griffith for portraying women as equals to men, commenting that he
was ahead of his contemporaries on that point.[2]: 195 [5]: 24 Barbara Arnett Melchiori, by contrast,
finds Griffith to portray women as little more than the private property of men.[29]: 139

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H. G. Wells (1866–1946), Griffith's

principal literary rival

During Griffith's lifetime, comparisons were frequently made between his works and those of H.
G. Wells—to the chagrin of Wells, who viewed himself as producing literature of a higher class
than Griffith.[9]: 313 [17]: 39 [30]: 12 Wells reviewed Griffith's in in
1895, finding it passable but not living up to its potential.[30]: 11 Wells quickly overtook Griffith in
reputation, and writes that Griffith attempted in vain to garner
critical praise by covering different literary ground in order to get out of Wells's shadow.[1]

Comparisons have continued to be made long after both men's deaths. Wells is known to have
read Griffith's works and is widely believed by scholars on Griffith to have been influenced by
them.[2]: 182, 208 [4]: 106 [5]: 19, 24 [30]: 10–11 Scholars on Wells, by contrast, usually do not consider
Griffith to have been an important influence.[30]: 10–11 Wells's (1908) contains a
passage that describes Griffith's as an "aeronautic classic"; Griffith's
biographer Moskowitz takes this as evidence that Wells held professional respect for Griffith,
while Harry Wood in instead interprets the
apparent praise as backhanded.[2]: 182 [30]: 12–13 Wood argues that although the two were
contemporaries chronologically, that term may be considered inappropriate when considering
their ideological differences, with Griffith embodying Victorian ideals and Wells embracing
Edwardian ones.[30]: 10 Says Wood, "Where Wells critically analysed the present and offered
shrewd insight on the future, Griffith celebrated the present as the glorious inheritance of a
reified Victorian past".[30]: 23 Wood nevertheless identifies several similarities in their works,
including a focus on speculative aeronautics with a grounding in contemporary science and the
use of fiction as a vehicle for social commentary.[30]: 14, 18 Steven Mollmann, in a 2015

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article comparing and , characterizes

both books as examples of what he terms "revolutionary sf", where technological revolution (here
in the form of airships) brings about political revolution.[31]: 20, 23

Wells is generally regarded as the superior writer.[3]: 54 [4]: 106, 108 [9]: 313 [15]: 302 [24]: 167 Harris-Fain
states that while both writers had "imaginative ideas and exciting stories", only Wells was able to
incorporate "serious themes and philosophical speculations".[4]: 108 Wood and Mollmann both
comment that Wells more accurately predicted the future of warfare than did Griffith. Wood
focuses on Wells depicting aerial warfare as insufficient to maintain control on the ground and
draws comparisons to strategic bombing during World War II. Mollmann focuses on Wells
portraying technological developments being adopted by all warring parties roughly at the same
time—thus leading to more destructive warfare but not to anybody having a decisive
technological advantage—and draws comparisons to World War I.[30]: 16–17 [31]: 26, 31–32

Personal views

Griffith was irreligious,[f] and in his

There was, without a doubt, a streak of messianism
youth he wrote for the freethinker
in Griffith and he held, at one time, strong political
magazine .[3]: 44 [7]: 79
beliefs. But after he had been working for a while for
Stableford comments that being a
Pearson he had, in common with most journalists of
freethinker whose father was a
his kind, probably left most ideals behind him, and his
clergyman was a background Griffith
work was dictated entirely by the demands of his
shared with many other scientific
publishers.
romance authors.[3]: 44–45 He
Michael Moorcock, [11]: 10
advocated fiercely for secularism as
a young man; Stableford writes that
he evidently tempered his opinions on
this later in his life, as he wrote the serial for a religious audience in Pearson's
in 1899.[3]: 45, 51 [10]: 42 Moskowitz further writes that Griffith appears to have
taken up an interest in the occult in the later years of his life.[2]: 214

Early in his career, Griffith was an outspoken socialist.[3]: 45 He incorporated his political views

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into his fiction,[4]: 106 [24]: 166 and much has been written about what can be gleaned from his
writings about his viewpoints. Melchiori writes that there are a number of inconsistencies in his
debut novel which indicate to her that Griffith "had by no means fully
absorbed the doctrine that he was preaching".[29]: 132 In particular, Melchiori highlights Griffith's
vision of the abolition of private property as incomplete, suggesting that the concept was so
deeply ingrained in his worldview that he could not properly imagine its absence.[29]: 141–142
Bleiler similarly describes Griffith's works as characterized by "ambivalence toward various social
movements of the day".[15]: 302 Stableford writes that Griffith's works reveal a successive shift to
increasingly right-leaning sympathies, with anarchists being portrayed positively alongside
socialists in his very earliest stories but quickly rejected afterwards, and the socialists in turn
being displaced by capitalists in the later works.[3]: 49

On Griffith's social views, Stableford

[...] a brief and simple service of thanksgiving for the
contrasts Griffith's gradually shifting
victory which had wiped the stain of foreign invasion
views on economics with the
from the soil of Britain in the blood of the invader,
observation that he consistently
and given the control of the destinies of the Western
portrayed aristocrats positively from
world finally into the hands of the dominant race on
the very start.[3]: 49 Wood writes that
earth.
"Griffith's fiction celebrates social
George Griffith, (1893)
conservatism and British global
[29]: 142
predominance, preaching the
maintenance of this status quo".[30]: 18
McNabb identifies themes of social
Darwinism, eugenics, and outright race war, while commenting that there is a notable lack of the
antisemitism that often accompanied such stories. He writes that Griffith's works reinforced
then-common beliefs among his readers about their own inherent superiority.[9]: 314–317 Melchiori
similarly says about Griffith's views on internationalism that "In theory he accepts it, but in
practice he is very strongly pro-British",[29]: 142 and Wood comments that "Irishness could only
exist for Griffith, it seems, as a constituent part of Britishness".[30]: 20 Bleiler summarizes Griffith
as "in ideology, the embodiment of what was wrong with the British Victorian ".
[15]: 302

Publications

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1883 W. Stewart & Co. as Lara [8]: 302/398

1884 W. Stewart & Co. as Lara [8]: 302/398

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Tower originally serialized in

1893 Publishing , 21 January – 14 October [1]

Company 1893

Tower originally serialized as

1894 Publishing in , 30 [1][19]

Company December 1893 – 4 August 1894

Tower
originally serialized in , [15]: 304
1895 Publishing
8 September 1894 – 23 March 1895
Company

originally serialized in
C. Arthur [1]
1895 , 2 February – 24 August
Pearson Ltd
1895

originally serialized in [1]

1897 F. V. White , 1 August 1896 – 9 January [2]: 204–205
1897

originally serialized in [2]: 202

1897 F. V. White [4]: 103

originally serialized as in
1897 F. V. White , 7 September – 21 [15]: 304

December 1895

C. Arthur [1][32]: 133

1898
Pearson Ltd

1898 F. V. White [4]: 103

originally serialized as [15]: 304

1898 F. V. White
in , 1897

originally serialized in , [1]

1899 F. V. White
19 February – 23 July 1898

originally serialized in [2]: 212

C. Arthur
1899 , 8 October 1898 – 23 [4]: 103
Pearson Ltd
January 1899

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as Stanton Morich; originally [4]: 103

C. Arthur
1900 serialized in , [10]: 42
Pearson Ltd
1899

1900 F. V. White [4]: 103

1901 F. V. White [1]

1901 F. V. White [4]: 103

1901 Hutchinson [4]: 103

originally serialized as
C. Arthur [1][2]: 213
1901 in ,
Pearson Ltd
January–July 1900[e]

1902 F. V. White [4]: 103

1902 F. V. White [1]

originally serialized in , [1]

1903 F. V. White
December 1902 – July 1903

1903 F. V. White [1]

1903 John Long Ltd [1]

1904 John Long Ltd [1]

1904 F. V. White [1]

1905 F. V. White [4]: 103

1905 F. V. White [4]: 103

expanded from the earlier short [3]: 51

1905 F. V. White [4]: 103
story "The Searcher of Souls"

1906 F. V. White [4]: 104

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1906 F. V. White [1]

1906 F. V. White [4]: 104

expanded from the earlier short

T. Werner stories "The Vengeance of Nitocris" [1][13]: 53
1906
Laurie and "The Conversion of the
Professor"

expanded from the earlier short [1][2]: 216

1907 F. V. White
story "The Great Crellin Comet"

1908 F. V. White [4]: 104

1908 Everett & Co. [1]

last work written and last work [2]: 215

1911 F. V. White [3]: 54
published (posthumously)

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1894 January 27 "A Gamble with Destiny" as Levin Carnac [13]: 55

1894 February 3 "The General's Gloves" as Levin Carnac [13]: 55

February [13]: 55
1894 "Up a Gum Tree"
10

February [13]: 55
1894 "Jonah's Yarn" as Levin Carnac
17

1894 March 3 "A Romance of the Hills" as Levin Carnac [13]: 55

"The True Fate of the [13]: 55

1894 July 21 as Levin Carnac
'Flying Dutchman' "

"The Romance of Rajah [13]: 55

1894 Christmas
Mountain"

1895 April 6 "A Woman's Justice" as Levin Carnac [13]: 55

"The Cruise of the [13]: 55

1895 April 13 as Levin Carnac
'Hampshire Maid' "

"The Heroine of Six Mile [13]: 55

1895 April 20 as Levin Carnac
Creek"

1895 April 27 "A True Tale of the 48" as Levin Carnac [13]: 55

"The Tragedy of Old [13]: 55

1895 May 4 as Levin Carnac
Man Porter"

1895 May 11 "The Gold Plant" as Levin Carnac [13]: 55

1895 Christmas "A Tale of Old Pompeii" [13]: 55

"A Photograph of the [13]: 56

1896 April
Invisible"

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1896 June "A Genius for a Year" as Levin Carnac [13]: 56

incorporated alongside "The

"The Vengeance of Conversion of the [13]: 53, 55
1896 Christmas
Nitocris" Professor" into
in 1906

first of several connected [13]: 53, 57

1897 July "The Diamond Dog" "I.D.B." (illicit diamond [33]: 49
buying) stories

1897 August "A Run to Freetown" "I.D.B." story [13]: 57

"The King's Rose [13]: 57

1897 September "I.D.B." story
Diamond"

"The Finding of [13]: 57

1897 October "I.D.B." story
Diamond Pan"

1897 November "Five Hundred Carats" "I.D.B." story [13]: 57

1897 December "The Border Gang" "I.D.B." story [13]: 57

later expanded into the

"The Great Crellin posthumously-published [2]: 216
1897 Christmas [13]: 55
Comet" 1907 novel

1898 March "A Corner in Lightning" [13]: 57

"At the Sign of the [13]: 57

1898 July "I.D.B." story
'Golden Star' "

1898 July 30 "A Woman Scorned" as Levin Carnac [13]: 56

1898 August 6 "Hellville, U.S.A." [13]: 55

"Condemned by [13]: 55
1898 August 6 as Levin Carnac
Circumstance"

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1898 August 6 "A Double Rose" as Levin Carnac [13]: 56

1898 August 13 "La Giralda" as Levin Carnac [13]: 56

1898 August 20 "The Curse of Ham" as Levin Carnac [13]: 56

1898 August 27 "A Withered Rose-Leaf" as Levin Carnac [13]: 56

September [13]: 56
1898 "Lola's Two Lovers" as Levin Carnac
3

"Some Notes from a

September Private Diary, which [13]: 56
1898
10 Speculates on Choruses
and Muses"

1898 October "Beauty in Camp" "I.D.B." story [13]: 57

1898 Christmas "The Veil of Tanit" [13]: 55

incorporated alongside "The

"The Conversion of the Vengeance of Nitocris" into [13]: 53, 57
1899 May
Professor"
in 1906

"The Plague Ship [13]: 57

1899 July
'Tupisa' "

later expanded into the [3]: 51

1899 Christmas "The Searcher of Souls" 1905 novel [13]: 55

"The Raid of 'Le [13]: 58

1901 February
Vengeur' "

1903 October "The Lost Elixir" [4]: 107

1904 October "From Pole to Pole" [4]: 107

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Tower Publishing [8]: 302/397

1894
Company

1899 F. V. White [15]: 305

collection of "I.D.B." stories; [8]: 302/398

C. Arthur
1899 reprinted as , [13]: 53
Pearson Ltd
1913

originally published in 12
C. Arthur [13]: 53, 56
1897 parts in , 25
Pearson Ltd
May – 10 August 1897

1901 Hutchinson [8]: 302/398

George
1903 Routledge & [13]: 54

Sons

originally published
1903 John Long Ltd irregularly in [13]: 54, 57–58

Explanatory notes

a. Not counting the US edition of ,[17]: 34 which at the time carried the same material
as the UK edition, and wherein appeared in 1900.[18] Thus, while two of Griffith's
serials were published in the US, only one was published in a magazine that was both edited and
published in the US.[2]: 214

b. Later published in book form in 2008 under the title .[19]

c. See e.g. Federalist Revolution (Brazil), Liberal Revolution of 1895 (Ecuador), Peruvian Civil War of
1894–1895, and Venezuelan crisis of 1895.

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d. Says Moskowitz, "It was the vogue during that time to publish an extra issue at a greater size and price
to be given as a gift at Christmas."[2]: 209

e. See § Publication history.

f. Variously described by later writers as atheist,[20]: 12, 15 agnostic,[12]: 82 and having "embraced no
religion".[2]: 214

References

1. Eggeling, John; Clute, John (2024). "Griffith, George" (https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/griffith_geor

ge) . In Clute, John; Langford, David; Sleight, Graham (eds.).
(4th ed.). Retrieved 19 February 2024.

2. Moskowitz, Sam (1976). "War: Warriors of If" (https://archive.org/details/strangehorizonss0000mos

k/page/182/mode/2up) . . New York: Scribner.
pp. 182–217. ISBN 978-0-684-14774-1.

3. Stableford, Brian (1985). "George Griffith" (https://archive.org/details/scientificromanc00stab/page/

44/mode/2up) . . New York: St. Martin's Press. pp. 44–55.
ISBN 978-0-312-70305-9.

4. Harris-Fain, Darren (1997). "George Griffith" (https://archive.org/details/britishfantasysc178harr/pag

e/102/mode/2up) . . Dictionary of
Literary Biography No. 178. Gale Research. pp. 103–108. ISBN 978-0-8103-9941-9.

5. Ellis, Peter Berresford (November 1977). Ross, Alan (ed.). "George Griffith: The English Jules Verne"
(https://books.google.com/books?id=6CVPAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA19) . . Vol. 19,
no. 5. pp. 19–25. ISSN 0024-6085 (https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0024-6085) .

6. "Editorial note to No. VI: "Homeward Bound" " (https://babel.hathitrust.org/cg

i/pt?id=uc1.b2886802&view=1up&seq=503) . . July 1900. p. 67.

7. Sam, Moskowitz, ed. (1974) [1968]. " "A Corner in Lightning" by George Griffith" (https://archive.org/d
etails/sciencefictionby0000mosk/page/78/mode/2up) .
(Hyperion reprint ed.). Westport,
Connecticut: Hyperion Press. pp. 79–80. ISBN 0-88355-128-4.

8. Suvin, Darko (1986). "Griffith, George" (https://archive.org/details/twentiethcentury0000unse_v9c2/p

age/302/mode/2up) . In Smith, Curtis C. (ed.). . St. James
Press. pp. 302–303. ISBN 978-0-912289-27-4.

Suvin, Darko (1996). "Griffith, George" (https://archive.org/details/stjamesguidetosc0000unse/page/

396/mode/2up) . In Pederson, Jay P. (ed.). . St. James
Press. pp. 397–398. ISBN 978-1-55862-179-4.

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9. McNabb, John (2012). "Scientific Romances: George Griffith" (https://books.google.com/books?id=F

ogxEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA312) .
. Archaeopress Publishing Ltd. pp. 312–318.
ISBN 978-1-78491-078-5.

10. Moskowitz, Sam (1974). "George Griffith – Warrior of If". In Moskowitz, Sam (ed.).
(https://books.google.com/books?id=tbJaAAAAMAAJ) . Collection of
short stories by George Griffith. Ferret Fantasy. pp. 6–47. ISBN 978-0-904997-03-3.

11. Moorcock, Michael (1975). "Introduction". In Moorcock, Michael (ed.).

. London: W. H. Allen &
Co. pp. 1–18. ISBN 978-0-491-01794-7. "Griffith was to become the first 'professional' science-fiction
writer, working primarily for money and for the magazines, anxious to please his public, to serve his
editorial masters."

12. Hannah, Heather Anne (2018).

(https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/211568687.pdf) (PDF) (PhD thesis). Murdoch
University. pp. 82–83, 294–295. Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20230724021732/https://co
re.ac.uk/download/pdf/211568687.pdf) (PDF) from the original on 24 July 2023.

13. Locke, George (1974). "Bibliography". In Moskowitz, Sam (ed.).

(https://books.google.com/books?id=tbJaAAAAMAAJ) . Collection of short stories by George
Griffith. Ferret Fantasy. pp. 51–58. ISBN 978-0-904997-03-3.

14. Cantor, Brian (2020). "Griffith's Equation" (https://books.google.com/books?id=KYLxDwAAQBAJ&pg=

PA256) . . Oxford University Press. pp. 256–257. ISBN 978-0-19-259291-0.
"Alan Arnold Griffith was born on 13 June 1893, the eldest of three children [...]"

15. Bleiler, Everett Franklin (1990). "Griffith, George ( , George Chetwynd Griffith-Jones, 1857–1906)" (h
ttps://books.google.com/books?id=KEZxhkG5eikC&pg=PA302) .

. With the assistance of Richard J. Bleiler.

Kent State University Press. pp. 302–310. ISBN 978-0-87338-416-2.

16. Parrott, Jeremy (2001). "George Griffith: Pioneer of Scientific Romance". .

No. 207. London. pp. 57–69. ISSN 0952-8601 (https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0952-8601) .

17. Sam, Moskowitz, ed. (1974) [1968]. "Introduction: A History of Science Fiction in the Popular
Magazines, 1891–1911" (https://archive.org/details/sciencefictionby0000mosk/page/38/mode/2u
p) .
(Hyperion reprint ed.). Westport, Connecticut: Hyperion press. pp. 15–50.
ISBN 0-88355-128-4.

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18. Ashley, Mike; Eggeling, John (2023). "Pearson's Magazine" (https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/pears

ons_magazine) . In Clute, John; Langford, David; Sleight, Graham (eds.).
(4th ed.). Retrieved 26 December 2023.

19. Ashley, Mike (2022). "Pearson's Weekly" (https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/pearsons_weekly) . In

Clute, John; Langford, David; Sleight, Graham (eds.). (4th ed.).
Retrieved 25 July 2023.

20. Baldwin, Adam (Summer 2023). "Secularizing the Destruction of Gomorrah in George Griffith's
'Hellville, U.S.A.' " (https://www.proquest.com/docview/2844253505) . . Vol. 52, no. 145.
Science Fiction Foundation. pp. 5–17. ISSN 0306-4964 (https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0306-4964) .
ProQuest 2844253505 (https://search.proquest.com/docview/2844253505) .

21. "George Griffith" (https://www.cgpublishing.com/Author_Bios/george_griffith.html) .

. Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20110604180408/https://www.cgpublishing.co
m/Author_Bios/george_griffith.html) from the original on 4 June 2011. Retrieved 24 February 2024.

22. King, H. F. (22 December 1966). "The Griffith Heritage: A Singular Story of Father and Son" (https://bo
oks.google.com/books?id=M7AjAQAAMAAJ) . . Vol. 90. IPC Transport Press
Limited. pp. 1058–1059. ISSN 0015-3710 (https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0015-3710) .

23. D'Ammassa, Don (2005). "Griffith, George" (https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofsc0000damm/

page/168/mode/2up) . . Facts On File. p. 168.
ISBN 978-0-8160-5924-9. "The future-war novel had already acquired considerable popularity when he
started writing, but most of the works in this subgenre consisted of extended descriptive narratives
with little concern for plot or characterization. Griffith changed that dramatically with
(1893) and its sequel, (1894)."

24. Peacock, Scot, ed. (2001). "Griffith(-Jones), George (Chetwynd) 1857–1906" (https://archive.org/det
ails/isbn_9790787645839_188_p1f8/page/164/mode/2up) . . Vol. 188. Gale.
pp. 165–167. ISBN 0-7876-4583-4. LCCN 62-52046 (https://lccn.loc.gov/62-52046) . "Through
Griffith's efforts, novels concerned with war in the future evolved into commentaries on the state of
politics."

25. "First Quotations from George Griffith" (https://sfdictionary.com/author/993/george-griffith?firstquot

es=1) . . Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/2023012919
4107/https://sfdictionary.com/author/993/george-griffith?firstquotes=1) from the original on 29
January 2023. Retrieved 21 August 2023.

26. Clarke, I. F., ed. (1995). "Biographical Notes" (https://archive.org/details/taleofnextgreatw00ifcl/pag

e/378/mode/2up) .
. Liverpool Science Fiction Texts and Studies. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press.
p. 379. ISBN 978-0-85323-469-2. "[Griffith's stories] were very much of their day, and for that reason
George Griffith is no longer remembered today."

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George Griffith - Wikipedia https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Griffith

27. Langford, David (2009). "Looking Forward" (https://books.google.com/books?id=2RlrUk8-PFkC&pg=

PA221) . . Wildside Press LLC. p. 221. ISBN 978-0-8095-7348-6. "Air-to-surface missiles
are deployed in (1893) by George Griffith."

28. "George Chetwynd Griffith (1857–1906)" (https://victoriansecrets.co.uk/authors/george-chetwynd-gr

iffith-1857-1906/) . . Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20160304040010/http
s://victoriansecrets.co.uk/authors/george-chetwynd-griffith-1857-1906/) from the original on 4
March 2016. Retrieved 26 July 2023.

29. Melchiori, Barbara Arnett (2016). "Dynamite Falls on Castle Walls" (https://books.google.com/book
s?id=NmfADAAAQBAJ&pg=PA131) . . Routledge. pp. 131–142.
ISBN 978-1-317-20863-1.

30. Wood, Harry (2015). James, Simon J. (ed.). "Competing Prophets: H. G. Wells, George Griffith, and
Visions of Future War, 1893–1914" (https://thewellsian.awh.durham.ac.uk/ojs/index.php/Wellsian/a
rticle/viewFile/427/415) . . : 5–23.
ISSN 0263-1776 (https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0263-1776) . Archived (https://web.archive.org/w
eb/20230723220839/https://thewellsian.awh.durham.ac.uk/ojs/index.php/Wellsian/article/viewFil
e/427/415) from the original on 23 July 2023.

31. Mollmann, Steven (March 2015). "Air-Ships and the Technological Revolution: Detached Violence in
George Griffith and H.G. Wells". . (1): 20–41. doi:10.5621/sciefictstud.
42.1.0020 (https://doi.org/10.5621%2Fsciefictstud.42.1.0020) . JSTOR 10.5621/sciefictstud.
42.1.0020 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5621/sciefictstud.42.1.0020) .

32. Bleiler, Everett Franklin (1948). "Griffith, George" (https://archive.org/details/BleilerEverettF.ed.TheCh

ecklistOfFantasticLiterature1948.1st.Ed.v1.0madmaxau/page/n149/mode/2up) .
. Chicago: Shasta Publishers. p. 133.

33. Locke, George (1974). "Additional Notes". In Moskowitz, Sam (ed.).

(https://books.google.com/books?id=tbJaAAAAMAAJ) . Collection of short stories by
George Griffith. Ferret Fantasy. pp. 48–50. ISBN 978-0-904997-03-3.

Further reading

• Kemp, Sandra; Mitchell, Charlotte; Trotter, David (1997). "Griffith, George" (https://archive.or
g/details/edwardianfiction0000kemp/page/162/mode/2up) .
. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 162–163. ISBN 978-0-19-811760-5.

• McLean, Steven (2014). "Revolution as an Angel from the Sky: George Griffith's Aeronautical
Speculation" (https://www.literatureandscience.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/7.2-McLea
n-37-61.pdf) (PDF). . (2): 37–61. doi:10.12929/jls.07.2.03
(https://doi.org/10.12929%2Fjls.07.2.03) . ISSN 1754-646X (https://www.worldcat.org/iss

29 of 30 19/03/2024, 12:28
George Griffith - Wikipedia https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Griffith

n/1754-646X) . Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20150221060304/https://www.litera

tureandscience.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/7.2-McLean-37-61.pdf) (PDF) from the
original on 21 February 2015.

External links

• Works by George Griffith (https://www.gutenberg.org/eb Wikisource has original

ooks/author/8557) at Project Gutenberg text related to this article:

• Works by George Griffith (http://gutenberg.net.au/plusfift

y-a-m.html#griffith) at Project Gutenberg Australia

• Works by or about George Griffith (https://archive.org/search.php?query=%28%28subject%3

A%22Griffith%2C%20George%20Chetwynd%22%20OR%20subject%3A%22Griffith%2C%20Ge
orge%20C%2E%22%20OR%20subject%3A%22Griffith%2C%20G%2E%20C%2E%22%20OR%20
subject%3A%22George%20Chetwynd%20Griffith%22%20OR%20subject%3A%22George%20
C%2E%20Griffith%22%20OR%20subject%3A%22G%2E%20C%2E%20Griffith%22%20OR%20cr
eator%3A%22George%20Chetwynd%20Griffith%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22George%20
C%2E%20Griffith%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22G%2E%20C%2E%20Griffith%22%20OR%20cr
eator%3A%22G%2E%20Chetwynd%20Griffith%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22Griffith%2C%20
George%20Chetwynd%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22Griffith%2C%20George%20C%2E%22%2
0OR%20creator%3A%22Griffith%2C%20G%2E%20C%2E%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22Griffit
h%2C%20G%2E%20Chetwynd%22%20OR%20title%3A%22George%20Chetwynd%20Griffit
h%22%20OR%20title%3A%22George%20C%2E%20Griffith%22%20OR%20title%3A%22G%2
E%20C%2E%20Griffith%22%20OR%20description%3A%22George%20Chetwynd%20Griffit
h%22%20OR%20description%3A%22George%20C%2E%20Griffith%22%20OR%20descriptio
n%3A%22G%2E%20C%2E%20Griffith%22%20OR%20description%3A%22Griffith%2C%20Geor
ge%20Chetwynd%22%20OR%20description%3A%22Griffith%2C%20George%20C%2E%22%2
9%20OR%20%28%221857-1906%22%20AND%20Griffith%29%29%20AND%20%28-mediatyp
e:software%29) at Internet Archive

• Works by George Griffith (https://librivox.org/author/3074) at LibriVox (public domain

audiobooks)

• George Griffith (https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?993) at the Internet Speculative Fiction

Database

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