Arthur Clarke said it first: If mankind is to survive, then for all but a very brief part of our history the word "ship" will mean "space ship." We will spread through space. We will build a colony on the moon: if we had a government of courage and imagination we would have that in time to celebrate the 500th anniversary of Columbus' voyages of discovery. As it is, it will take a bit longer; but we will go back to the Moon. We will settle other moons, and asteroids, and the planets; and we will go to the stars. Where mankind goes, government goes. It is no idle thing, then, to think about what forms of government we will take to the stars. We in this enlightened age think we know; but do we? We are, after all, no smarter than our ancestors. We know more, but that's quite a different thing - and we have forgotten much that we had best relearn before we pay dearly for what they knew and we don't. Contents: Introduction: Empire by J.E. Pournelle In Clouds of Glory by Algis Budrys The Star Plunderer by Poul Anderson Two Editorials & Postscripts by John W. Campbell Hymn of Breaking Strain by Rudyard Kipling The Miracle of Government by James Burnham To A Different Drum by Reginald Bretnor The Whirligig of Time by Vernor Vinge Nightmare with Angels by Stephen Vincent Benet The Aristocrat by Chan Davis The Sons of Martha by Rudyard Kipling Mail Supremacy by Hayford Pierce Herbig-Haro by Harry Turtledove The Fighting Philosopher by E.B. Cole The Voodoo Sciences by J.E. Pournelle Pax Galactica by Ralph Williams The Proper Study of Mankind by J.E. Pournelle Finger Trouble by Edward P. Hughes Yellow Rain and Space Wars by Adrian Berry That Share of Glory by C.M. Kornbluth The Stars at War by J.E. Pournelle

Empires do not grow old gracefully. As the edifice of ancient government succumbs to entropy, as civil war reigns, the result is indeed "interesting times," the times of interstellar Huns locked in mortal combat with Imperial storm troopers. Original. Content: The crash of empires / Jerry Pournelle Pebble among the stars / Gregory Benford The claw and the clock / Christopher Anvill The only thing we learn / Cyril Kornbluth Remembering Vietnam / H.J. Kaplan Blessed are the meek / G.C. Edmondson Limiting factor / Theodore Cogswell Triage / William Walling Hyperdemocracy / John W. Campbell, Jr. Chain reaction / Algis Budrys Earthman's burden / Morton Klass Blood bank / Walter M. Miller, Jr. Here, there be witches / Everett B. Cole The buzz of joy / Phillip C. Jennings Second contact / W.R. Thompson The quest / Rudyard Kipling.