Books

First edition. A chip at the crown of both the book and the jacket, thus good or a little better in an about very good dust jacket. Inscribed by Arthur C. Clarke to his prot�g�, one-time secretary, and longtime friend Ian Macauley, who was the dedicatee of his first hardcover novel (*Islands in the Sky*): "To Ian, my favorite American, on appropriately enough the day of the solar eclipse 30 June 56. Arthur." Macauley was an award-winning *New York Times* journalist who also edited Clarke's book of collected essays, *Greetings, Carbon-Based Bipeds!* (2000). Clarke wrote the last chapter of *Childhood's End*, while visiting Macauley in Atlanta in 1952, where he was reportedly greatly influenced by their discussions. A splendid association copy.

Against the Fall of Night is a novel by British author Arthur C. Clarke, originally appearing as a novella in the November 1948 issue of 'Startling Stories.' Clarke expanded the story and published it in book form in 1953. The novel takes place a billion years in the future, in the city of Diaspar. Humanity has retreated to this single, opulent city, protected from the harsh outside world by technological marvels. Alvin, the protagonist, is a young man who is not content with the stagnant perfection of Diaspar and seeks to explore the mysterious past and unknown future of mankind.