Future history explained

A future history, imaginary history or anticipatory history^[1] is a fictional conjecture of the future used by authors of science fiction and other speculative fiction to construct a common background for stories. Sometimes the author publishes a timeline of events in the history, while other times the reader can reconstruct the order of the stories from information provided. The term can also be used to describe the subgenre of science fiction that uses this framework.^[2]

A set of stories which share a backdrop but are not really concerned with the sequence of history in their universe are not considered future histories. For example, Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan Saga is not generally considered a future history. Standalone stories which trace an arc of history are rarely considered future histories.

Future histories differ from alternate history, in which different outcomes are ascribed to past events, because they consist of imagined events in the writer's future.

History

The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction calls The Ruins; Or, a Survey of the Revolutions of Empires, by Constantin François de Chassebœuf, comte de Volney (published in 1791) probably the first recognizable future history.^[3] In it, the narrator is transported into space and sees the Earth as a whole while its history unfolds, which Volney uses to present his political and theological ideas.^[4] It lists similar examples from the 19th and 20th centuries by William Delisle Hay, Alfred Döblin (Berge Meere und Giganten, 1924), André Maurois, and Olaf Stapledon (Last and First Men, 1930, and Star Maker, 1937). Some of these purported to be excerpts of a history book from the future, having no personal protagonists but rather describing the development of nations and societies over decades and centuries. Other related classic works include:

• The Reign of George VI: 1900–1925 (1763, published anonymously), about a series of wars undertaken by Great Britain against other European powers, ending with the British conquest of France.^{[5] [6]}
• Adam Mickiewicz's lost from the first half of the 19th century^[7]
• Ingersoll Lockwood's 1900; or, The Last President (1896) in which William Jennings Bryan wins the 1896 presidential election and brings about the downfall of the United States within his first term.^{[8] [9]}
• Jack London's The Unparalleled Invasion (1914) describing a devastating war between an alliance of Western nations and China in 1975, ending with a complete genocide of the Chinese people. It is described in a short footnote as "Excerpt from Walt Mervin's 'Certain Essays in History'.
• André Maurois's The War against the Moon (1928), where a band of well-meaning conspirators intend to avert a devastating world war by uniting humanity in hatred of a fictitious Lunar enemy, only to find that the moon is truly inhabited and that they had unwittingly set off the first interplanetary war. This, too, is explicitly described as an excerpt from a future history book.
• H. G. Wells' The Shape of Things to Come (1933) contains numerous footnotes and references to the works of (mostly fictitious) prominent historians of the 20th and 21st centuries.

In science fiction

The first science fiction writer to create a future history may have been Neil R. Jones in his stories of the 1930s.^{[10] [11]} The term appears to have been coined by John W. Campbell, Jr., the editor of Astounding Science Fiction, in the February 1941 issue of the magazine, to describe Robert A. Heinlein's Future History; the issue included a timeline of the stories.^[3] However, a fan had used the term, with "history" in quotation marks, in a letter to the pulp Thrilling Wonder Stories the previous year.^[2]

Other future histories

• Poul Anderson's two future histories: The Psychotechnic League and his later Technic History (see Nicholas van Rijn, Dominic Flandry)
• Isaac Asimov's Foundation, Galactic Empire and Robot series^[3]
• Iain M. Banks' Culture series ^[3]
• Stephen Baxter's two future histories: Xeelee Sequence, 1991–2018, and his Evolution short story collection 2002^[3]
• James Blish's Cities in Flight
• C. J. Cherryh's Alliance-Union series^[3]
• Larry Niven's Known Space
• H. Beam Piper's Terro-Human Future History
• Alastair Reynolds' Revelation Space universe^[3]
• Clifford D. Simak's City stories
• Cordwainer Smith's Instrumentality of Mankind stories^[3]

See also

• Alternate future
• Near future in fiction
• Far future in fiction
• Futures studies
• List of stories set in a future now in the past
• Post-apocalyptic science fiction
• World War III

Notes and References

1. Ostrowski, Witold. “Imaginary History.” Zagadnienia Rodzajow Literackich 3.2 (1960): 27-38
2. Web site: Future History . Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction . 11 January 2024.
3. Encyclopedia: Future Histories . The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction . Fourth . 2021 . Langford . David . David Langford . Clute . John . John Clute . Langford . David . SFE Ltd/Ansible Editions . London and Reading . 11 January 2021.
4. Encyclopedia: M Volney . The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction . Fourth . 2021 . Clute . John . John Clute . Clute . John . Langford . David . David Langford . SFE Ltd/Ansible Editions . London and Reading . 11 January 2021.
5. Clarke, I. F. "The Reign of George VI: A Fantasy OF 1763." History Today (Dec 1963), Vol. 13 Issue 12, p830-837.
6. https://archive.org/stream/reignofgeorgevi100maddrich/reignofgeorgevi100maddrich_djvu.txt The reign of George VI. 1900–1925; a forecast written in the year 1763
7. Andrzej Niewiadowski . 1984 . Pismo Literacko-artystyczne . 12 . 84-96 . Tradycje fantastyki naukowej w literaturze polskiej . 31.
8. News: Riotta. Chris. Did an author from the 1800s predict the Trumps, Russia and America's downfall?. Newsweek. July 31, 2017. en.
9. Web site: 1900; or, The Last President . Lockwood . Ingersoll . April 20, 2016 . First published 1896 . Internet Archive.
10. Ashley, M. (April, 1989). The Immortal Professor, Astro Adventures No.7, p.6.
11. Encyclopedia: Jones, Neil R . The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction . Fourth . 2021 . Clute . John . John Clute . Clute . John . Langford . David . David Langford . SFE Ltd/Ansible Editions . London and Reading . 11 January 2021.