The Duplicated Man
New York: Avalon Books, 1959. 1st Edition. Hardcover. 12mo - over 6¾ - 7¾" tall. Fine / Near Fine. Item #009599
Full green cloth. 222 pp. Dust jacket lightly worn and creased to extremities, light soiling to rear. Else a fine copy. There was peace on Earth, an Earth united under the all-powerful rule of the Security Council of the United Nations, which had wrested power from war-minded leaders and politicians a century before. And when a group of these disinherited malcontents had fled to Venus, to form their own Earth-government-in-Exile deep within the caverns of that desolate planet, no one tried to stop them. Now Earth was paying the penalty, for the peace of Earth did not exist; Earth was under an incessant bombardment from Venus, whenever the two planets were close enough. And the Exiles were safe behind the technical miracle known as the Thomas Screen, through which no radioactives of any kind could pass. The Exiles could send chemically propelled bombs of all sorts at Earth, but only atomics could possibly damage the underground Venusian civilization. Behind their screen the Exiles struggled for power among themselves, bombarded Earth, plotted invasion. On Earth, morale was near the breaking point and the rule of the Security Council tottered. What did peace on Earth mean under these conditions? How could the Peace Orders stop the bombs falling from the sky? Paul Danton was a member of a subversive political group which had an answer: make peace with Venus. But the only way to peace was through the overthrow of Security. And Danton had found the one weapon which would make Security's fall possible: the long forgotten duplication machine, which could make five duplicates of any living person and was too dangerous to have around...what if top members of the Security were kidnapped and suddenly there were five of each, each claiming to be the true one? No government could endure such chaos. But the top members of the Security knew one thing about Danton that no one else on Earth - or Venus, for that matter - ever suspected. And that one thing would lead Danton into the strangest destiny which would be played out on two worlds.
Price: $75.00