Caesar’s Column by Ignatius Donnelly

Description

Caesar’s Column is a book by Ignatius Donnelly, first published in 1890. This dystopian novel follows Gabriel Weltstein, a wool merchant from Uganda who travels to New York City in the year 1988, only to find a society wracked by inequality, corruption, and violence. Through Gabriel’s eyes, readers encounter a world dominated by monopolists, technological elites, and an oppressed underclass, where industrialization and greed have crushed human dignity. Written during America’s Gilded Age, the novel reflects Donnelly’s deep anxieties over capitalism, political corruption, and the collapse of social order. Donnelly, already famous for his populist politics and speculative writings on Atlantis, here uses fiction as a stark political warning. The book was a popular sensation upon release, selling hundreds of thousands of copies and shaping early dystopian and science fiction literature. With its mix of political commentary, speculative technology (including airships and electric weaponry), and dramatic revolution, Caesar’s Column foreshadows themes that would later appear in works like Brave New World and 1984.

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