Search Worlds Without End

The Empire of Earth, spanning more than a thousand solar systems, is threatened by a conspiracy from within. Now, with more than three-quarters of the Galaxy ready to fall into enemy hands, the Empire is forced to call on its top-secret weapon: the renowned Circus of the Galaxy featuring the d'Alembert family, a clan of circus performers with uncanny abilities. But even these super agents may not be in time to save the Empire.

Contained in this volume are stories about interstellar barbarians, spacefaring civilizations, and peacekeeping, accompanied by essays and poems about military policy, space warfare, and advancing empires.

Contents:

• Introduction: Empire - essay by Jerry Pournelle
• In Clouds of Glory - (1955) - novelette by Algis Budrys
• The Star Plunderer - [Technic History] - (1952) - novelette by Poul Anderson
• Tribesman, Barbarian and Citizen - [Editorial (Analog)] - (1961) - essay by John W. Campbell, Jr.
• The Barbarians Within - (1965) - essay by John W. Campbell, Jr.
• Hymn of Breaking Strain - (1935) - poem by Rudyard Kipling
• The Miracle of Government - (1957) - essay by James Burnham
• To a Different Drum - novelette by Reginald Bretnor
• The Whirligig of Time - (1974) - short story by Vernor Vinge
• Nightmare, with Angels - (1935) - poem by Stephen Vincent Bené
• The Aristocrat - (1949) - novelette by Chan Davis
• The Sons of Martha - (1907) - poem by Rudyard Kipling
• Mail Supremacy - [Chap Foey Rider - 1] - (1975) - short story by Hayford Peirce
• Herbig-Haro - [Roxalani - 2] - (1984) - novelette by Harry Turtledove
• Fighting Philosopher - [The Philosophical Corps] - (1954) - novelette by Everett B. Cole
• The Voodoo Sciences: Part One: The Gamblers - (1982) - essay by Jerry Pournelle (variant of The Gamblers)
• The Voodoo Sciences: Part Two: The Voodoo Sciences - (1982) - essay Jerry Pournelle (variant of The Voodoo Sciences)
• Pax Galactica - (1952) - novelette by Ralph Williams
• The Proper Study of Mankind - [New Beginnings] - (1980) - essay by Jerry Pournelle
• An Afterword on the Future (The Proper Study of Mankind) - essay by Jerry Pournelle
• Finger Trouble - novelette by Edward P. Hughes
• Yellow Rain - (1983) - essay by Adrian Berry
• Space Wars - (1983) - essay by Adrian Berry
• That Share of Glory - (1952) - novelette by C. M. Kornbluth
• The Stars at War - essay by Jerry Pournelle

Contained in this volume are stories and articles with space colonies, dictators, ambassadors, utopias, colleges of the future, cults, alien invaders, and interstellar politics.

Contents:

• Republic and Empire - essay by Jerry Pournelle
• Outward Bound - (1964) - novelette by Norman Spinrad
• In the Realm of the Heart, in the World of the Knife - (1985) - short story by Wayne Wightman
• Litany for Dictatorships - (1935) - poem by Stephen Vincent Benét^?
• Doing Well While Doing Good - [Chap Foey Rider - 2] - (1975) - short story by Hayford Peirce
• The Last Department - (1886) - poem by Rudyard Kipling
• Constitution - [Editorial (Analog)] - (1961) - essay by John W. Campbell, Jr. (variant of Constitution for Utopia)
• Minor Ingredient - (1956) - short story by Eric Frank Russell
• The Turning Wheel - (1954) - novelette by Philip K. Dick
• Reactionary Utopias - (1986) - essay by Gregory Benford
• These Shall Not Be Lost - [The Philosophical Corps] - (1953) - novelette by Everett B. Cole
• Data vs. Evidence in the Voodoo Sciences - [The Alternate View] - (1983) - essay by Jerry Pournelle
• Nicaragua: A Speech to My Former Comrades on the Left - (1986) - essay by David Horowitz
• The Gods of the Copybook Headings - (1911) - poem by Rudyard Kipling
• Custom Fitting - (1976) - novelette by James White
• Conquest by Default - (1968) - novelette by Vernor Vinge
• The Skills of Xanadu - (1956) - novelette by Theodore Sturgeon
• Into the Sunset - (1986) - short story by D. C. Poyer
• Shipwright - [Courtship Rite Universe] - (1978) - novelette by Donald Kingsbury
• Empire and Republic: Crisis and Future - essay by Jerry Pournelle

Empires do not grow old gracefully. As the edifice of ancient government succumbs to entropy, as civil war reigns, the result is indeed "interesting times," the times of interstellar Huns locked in mortal combat with Imperial storm troopers.

Contents:

• The Crash of Empires - essay by Jerry Pournelle
• Pebble Among the Stars - (1976) - novelette by Gregory Benford (variant of Seascape)
• The Claw and the Clock - [Federation of Humanity] - (1971) - novelette by Christopher Anvil
• The Only Thing We Learn - (1949) - short story by C. M. Kornbluth
• Remembering Vietnam - (1987) - essay by H. J. Kaplan
• Blessed Are the Meek - (1955) - short story by G. C. Edmondson
• Limiting Factor - (1954) - short story by Theodore R. Cogswell
• Triage - (1976) - short story by William Walling
• Hyperdemocracy - [Editorial (Astounding)] - (1958) - essay by John W. Campbell, Jr.
• Chain Reaction - (1957) - novelette by Algis Budrys
• Earthman's Burden - (1954) - short story by Morton Klass
• Blood Bank - (1952) - novella by Walter M. Miller, Jr.
• Here, There Be Witches - [The Philosophical Corps] - (1970) - novelette by Everett B. Cole
• The Buzz of Joy - [Tower to the Sky] - (1989) - short story by Phillip C. Jennings
• Second Contact - (1988) - novella by W. R. Thompson
• The Quest - (1896) - poem by Rudyard Kipling