Last and First Men

Olaf Stapledon (1886-1950)

Olaf Stapledon was the author of many novels and nonfiction books, including Last and First Men, Star Maker, and Odd John. Stapledon is considered one of the fathers of visionary science fiction, heir to H. G. Wells, and a major influence upon writers such as Arthur C. Clarke, Winston Churchill, and Nobel laureate Doris Lessing, as well as many American science fiction authors and scientists, including physicist Freeman Dyson. C. S. Lewis notably thought Stapledon “cracking good,” but was shaken by and reacted strongly to Stapledon’s dark vision. Stapledon’s novels are known for their sprawling scope, imaginative breadth, and philosophical depth, exploring themes of evolution, human consciousness, and the destiny of mankind across cosmic timescales.

Geoffrey Miller

Geoffrey Miller is an evolutionary psychologist and the author of The Mating Mind, Mating Intelligence, Spent, Mate, and Virtue Signaling. He is an associate professor at the University of New Mexico, and his research has been featured in Nature, Science, and The Economist, as well as in documentaries on the Discovery Channel, National Geographic Channel, and the BBC.

Bradley J. Birzer

Bradley J. Birzer is the Amos Kirk Chair in History and Director of American Studies at Hillsdale College, as well as a noted J.R.R. Tolkien scholar. He is a founder of the online journal The Imaginative Conservative. Birzer is the author of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Sanctifying Myth, Russell Kirk: American Conservative, Sanctifying the World: The Augustinian Life and Mind of Christopher Dawson, and In Defense of Andrew Jackson, among others.

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