Unborn Tomorrow
Anti-communist dystopia in jacket, 1933
First published in 1933, Unborn Tomorrow by John Kendall, the pseudonym of British author Margaret Maud Brash, imagines a communist world-state of 1996 that emerged after a financial collapse and global war. In this tightly controlled society, where breeding is regulated and individuality and spirituality are suppressed, the protagonist Herek begins to question the system and ultimately rebels. The first printing is extremely scarce; a later issue in red cloth has also been noted. This second impression in red cloth was published in the same month and year as the first, as stated on the copyright page. Both variants are exceptionally scarce.
Hardcover. First Edition, Second Impression. Octavo, red boards with black lettering on spine. London: W. Collins Sons & Co. Ltd., 1933. Locke, A Spectrum of Fantasy, p.127. #10692.
Good copy in rare original dust jacket with pieces missing at spine ends and smaller chips at folds. Majority of front and back panels is present and attractive. Having never encountered a jacketed first printing, it is unknown whether it would differ or not. According to Locke, it matches the description and price is the same, with "3/6" printed on spine.
Hardcover. First Edition, Second Impression. Octavo, red boards with black lettering on spine. London: W. Collins Sons & Co. Ltd., 1933. Locke, A Spectrum of Fantasy, p.127. #10692.
Good copy in rare original dust jacket with pieces missing at spine ends and smaller chips at folds. Majority of front and back panels is present and attractive. Having never encountered a jacketed first printing, it is unknown whether it would differ or not. According to Locke, it matches the description and price is the same, with "3/6" printed on spine.
Additional Details
Set in a communist world-state of 1996 that arose after a financial collapse and global war in 1938, Unborn Tomorrow by John Kendall (the pseudonym of British author Margaret Maud Brash) offers a distinctly anti-communist and anti-Bolshevist dystopia. In the “States of the United World,” the guiding creed “All for the State and the State for All” demands the suppression of individuality, personal desire, and religious belief, all of which are treated as obstacles to collective unity.
Citizens live under a dense web of regulations, including state-directed breeding programs designed to produce an average “State Stock,” the erosion of family life, the discouragement of creativity, and a culture in which genuine affection and spiritual expression are nearly extinct. Although the regime promises comfort, leisure, and material security, most people are trapped in a condition that the novel describes as “dull apathy.” A small ruling elite, however, remains quietly exempt from many of the rules, enjoying forms of privilege that contradict the state’s public doctrine of equality.
Through the eyes of the protagonist Herek, Brash explores the consequences of extreme collectivism through a love story. Herek’s growing awareness of what has been sacrificed leads him toward rebellion, which results in imprisonment in a harsh labor camp. He ultimately escapes with his girlfriend, and together they look to rebuild the old way of life.
The novel's title is drawn from the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam in Edward FitzGerald's translation, a fitting epigraph for a story preoccupied with what is sacrificed when a society attempts to engineer away uncertainty and individual will.
Citizens live under a dense web of regulations, including state-directed breeding programs designed to produce an average “State Stock,” the erosion of family life, the discouragement of creativity, and a culture in which genuine affection and spiritual expression are nearly extinct. Although the regime promises comfort, leisure, and material security, most people are trapped in a condition that the novel describes as “dull apathy.” A small ruling elite, however, remains quietly exempt from many of the rules, enjoying forms of privilege that contradict the state’s public doctrine of equality.
Through the eyes of the protagonist Herek, Brash explores the consequences of extreme collectivism through a love story. Herek’s growing awareness of what has been sacrificed leads him toward rebellion, which results in imprisonment in a harsh labor camp. He ultimately escapes with his girlfriend, and together they look to rebuild the old way of life.
The novel's title is drawn from the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam in Edward FitzGerald's translation, a fitting epigraph for a story preoccupied with what is sacrificed when a society attempts to engineer away uncertainty and individual will.
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