First and Last Men

The general take

Sulaiman Ahmed recommends First and Last Men by Olaf Stapledon as a great book that explores how different societies rise to become the best in the world and then eventually fall into destruction. He groups it among several worthwhile books and science fiction works on the subject of societal cycles.

About

One of the most extraordinary, imaginative and ambitious novels of the century: a history of the evolution of humankind over the next 2 billion years. Among all science fiction writers Olaf Stapledon stands alone for the sheer scope and ambition of his work. First published in 1930, Last and First Men is full of pioneering speculations about evolution, terraforming, genetic engineering and many other subjects.

Who said what

• SA

  Sulaiman Ahmed👍 Recommends

  …discussing science fiction literature about civilizational collapse and population dynamics

  “There's like so many great books about this. And for example, and even some science fiction books about this. And one of the books I like a lot is a book called by Olive Stapleton. And it's called First and Last Men. And what it talks about is different societies over time and how those societies become the best societies in the world. And then they become destroyed. And one of the societies in there, what happens is there's a small population. It grows. And then they have industry. They have civilization. They have structure. They have infrastructure.”

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