With the Night Mail and As Easy as A...., Rudyard Kipling
With the Night Mail and As Easy as A...., Rudyard Kipling
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With the Night Mail and As Easy as A.B.C.
Two Yarns About the Aerial Board of Control

Author: Rudyard Kipling

Narrator: Gildart Jackson

Unabridged: 2 hr 37 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 11/05/2013

Categories: Fiction, Classic


Synopsis

Rudyard Kipling's thrilling science fiction novella follows the exploits of an intercontinental mail dirigible battling foul weather. Meanwhile, a planet-wide Aerial Board of Control enforces a rigid system of command and control in the skies and in world affairs, too. In Kipling's 1912 follow-up story, 'As Easy As A.B.C.,' set 65 years after With the Night Mail, the Aerial Board has complete control over the social and economic affairs of every nation. When a mob of disgruntled 'Serviles' in the District of Northern Illinois demands the return of democracy, the A.B.C. sends a team of troubleshooters and a fleet of 200 zeppelins to 'take such steps as might be necessary for the resumption of traffic and all that that implies.'

About Rudyard Kipling

Short-story writer, novelist, and poet Rudyard Kipling was the first Englishman to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature and was hailed as a literary heir to Charles Dickens. His most popular works include The Jungle Books, Kim, and "The Man Who Would Be King." Audiences love his romantic tales about the adventures of Englishmen in strange and distant parts of the world. Characteristic of Kipling is sympathy for the children's world, a satirical attitude toward pompous patriotism, and belief in the blessings and superiority of the British rule. Although he was widely regarded as Britain's unofficial poet laureate, Kipling refused the honor, as well as the Order of Merit.

Kipling was born in 1865 in British-ruled Bombay, India, where his father was an arts and crafts teacher. At age six, he was put in a London foster home, and it was here that he began writing, influenced by his pre-Raphaelite ancestors. When Kipling was thirteen, he entered United Services College, an expensive military boarding school. His poor eyesight and mediocre grades ended his hopes for a military career. These years are recalled in a lighter tone in his book Stalky & Co.

Kipling returned to India in 1882, where he worked as a journalist, an assistant editor, and an overseas correspondent. Seven years later, Kipling moved back to London and married Caroline Starr Balestier, the sister of an American publisher and writer. They moved to the United States but, dissatisfied with life in Vermont and distraught by the death of his daughter, Kipling moved his family back to England. Still restless, he poured his energy into writing and produced The Jungle Books.

During the Boer War, Kipling spent several months in South Africa. In 1901, he published Kim, which is widely considered his best novel. Kipling received the Nobel for Prize for Literature in 1907. The prestigious prize was awarded for his power of observation, originality of imagination, virility of ideas, and remarkable talent for narration. Kipling died on January 18, 1936, in London.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Peter on November 14, 2013

I had heard of these two Kipling science fiction stories, and had always meant to seek them out and read them but in the end they pushed themselves in front of me. I found myself facing a shelf of HiLo books “Radium Age Science Fiction Series” short books with simple but beautiful covers, and the nu......more

Goodreads review by Rusty on September 24, 2014

I didn't enjoy this book nearly as much as Bruce Sterling did. I agree with him that Kipling is an amazing writer; as Sterling states, "it's anything but dry and boring exposition about how a future aircraft works." I think where I got lost (or lost interest) was in the general lack of plot coupled......more

Goodreads review by Alyssa on June 27, 2021

It's easy to see why these are lesser known works by Kipling. Enjoyed As Easy as A.B.C better than With the Night Mail.......more

Goodreads review by Doug on June 17, 2014

Could not make it through..........more