I'd class the earlier works in this anthology as speculative fiction, rather than science fiction, but given that they are foundational works selected to track the path of British science fiction writing, I'm more than happy to let that ride. Reading the introductions to each of the short stories gives a clear picture of how the community of writers coalesced in the middle years of the 20th century, with the blooming (and often quickly dying back) of any number of science fiction magazines giving a platform for the authors who were to become the leading lights of the British scene. A key point that stands out was the widespread use of pseudonyms, with authors using many pen names, but also magazine editors using a common name for many authors.

Mike Ashley was obviously embedded in the science fiction community at the right time, and gained access to most of the authors who were then alive; getting them to both offer up their choice of representative works and to pen a few words about them. That, and the bibliographic pen pictures in each of the introductions, makes the anthology that much richer.

The chosen stories are all well written; good enough that current scientific knowledge - destroying most of the plot-lines - and constant references to smoking (in fact, inescapable in the earlier works) hardly detract from the enjoyment. Ashley has done a really good job with this compendium, so I'm now on the outlook for volume 2. ( )