The Great War Syndicate

The Great War Syndicate

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The Great War Syndicate by Frank R. Stockton

Published:

1882

Pages:

93

Downloads:

1,878

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The Great War Syndicate

By

1
(1 Review)
It has often been prophesied that the advance of science will make war impossible. Even now nations are less inclined than formerly to embark lightly on hostilities, and when means are found to annihilate a whole army in five minutes, it may well be that none of the ordinary inducements will prove strong enough to bring about a breach of the peace. Stockton gives us a sketch of a future war between Great Britain and the United States, in which such newly-discovered engines of destruction are brought to bear for the first time. It is conceived with very great ingenuity, and told with unflazging spirit and an air of naturalness that carries the reader on with increasing interest from the first page till the last.

Book Excerpt

overnment ten war-vessels. These were of medium size and in good condition, but they were of an old-fashioned type, and it had not been considered expedient to put them in commission. This action caused surprise and disappointment in many quarters. It had been supposed that the Syndicate, through its agents scattered all over the world, would immediately acquire, by purchase or lease, a fleet of fine ironclads culled from various maritime powers. But the Syndicate having no intention of involving, or attempting to involve, other countries in this quarrel, paid no attention to public opinion, and went to work in its own way.

Its vessels, eight of which were on the Atlantic coast and two on the Pacific, were rapidly prepared for the peculiar service in which they were to be engaged. The resources of the Syndicate were great, and in a very short time several of their vessels, already heavily plated with steel, were furnished with an additional outside armour, formed of strips of elastic steel, each reachi

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