Collected here are the stories, poems, and religious writings that preceded and helped form the science fiction and fantasy genres, exploring key imaginative roots and their later literary permutations. The author list alone reads like a literary who's who and includes many writers not primarily known for their forays into the fantastic. Organized by topic rather than chronology, this volume allows listeners to trace the history of robots, aliens, and apocalypses up to some of their most recent manifestations.