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's 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