THE THAMES VALLEY CATASTROPHE (1884) – Written by Grant Allen. The story is presented in the form of a memoir about the destruction of London as seen from “the futuristic” 20th Century.
“Back” in 1884 a Londoner familiar with lava eruptions and flows that happened in the American West in the past tries – in what would become a trope of later disaster movies – to warn the authorities that danger lurks. Needless to say his warnings go unheeded and lava erupts in the Thames Valley.
Plenty of Londoners die in the ensuing carnage but our hero manages to get his wife and children out. Various other survivors succeed in getting away alive but the geography of the region is forever altered.
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London itself was utterly destroyed. The now closed-in Thames River became instead the Thames Lake, with various new towns being established on its banks by the early 20th Century.
One of those new towns is established as the new capital city of England.
From a story-telling angle it’s fascinating to see how far back the fundamental story structure for Disaster Epics goes. I used to think it started with the 1920s silent film about the Johnstown Flood of the 1890s.
Obviously, however, by 1884 (at least) the basic outline of a protagonist warning authorities about an impending catastrophe but being ignored until it’s too late was being laid out.
FOR EIGHT ADDITIONAL EXAMPLES OF ANCIENT SCIENCE FICTION CLICK HERE
FOR TEN MORE EXAMPLES OF ANCIENT SCIENCE FICTION CLICK HERE: https://glitternight.com/2014/03/03/ten-neglected-examples-of-ancient-science-fiction/
FOR WASHINGTON IRVING’S 1809 depiction of an invasion from the moon click here: https://glitternight.com/2014/05/05/ancient-science-fiction-the-men-of-the-moon-1809-by-washington-irving/
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Its now the month of Elul. The Jewish saying: The King is in the field. T’shuva requires remembering the sin of the Golden Calf and how HaShem threatened to break the sworn oath alliance cut with Avraham Yitzak and Yaacov.
I see.
The novel The Thames Valley Catastrophe reflects the sadness and melancholy of an era when many people felt detached from nature and its blessings of green. To me, it seems the story captures the author’s anger and frustration at the urban devastation of the natural world—an anger that boiled over into the vision of nature’s violent revenge. I don’t know the author personally, but I would guess he was longing for the simplicity of life in the countryside, close to nature’s embrace.
I think you probably captured the heart of it.
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Logged, thank you sir!
Wonderful posts as always. I have never heard about this ancient science fiction story before but it was definitely interesting to learn about. The themes of the story involving disasters brought to mind great disaster movies that I have seen and love.
Thank you!
The utter and total bankruptcy of European church theology has made this dead religion stink like a rotting corps in the Mid Summer day’s oppressive heat.
Strong wording!
Not strong enough. 75% of Western European Jews slaughtered in less than 3 years.
I hear ya!