This novella written in 1871 is on most lists of must read proto-science fiction, because it was one of the first books that had a theme of an alternative reality. In this case it imagined a successful German Invasion of England. This description is a little misleading because there is very little about what life would have been like in England under an occupation: nine tenths of the book is about a significant battle between two armies on the North Downs of England; after all Chesney called his book The Battle of Dorking and so this should not come as any surprise.

Sir George Tomkyns Chesney was a British Army General, politician, and writer of fiction, (there are no other works of his still in print although they can be found online) and I am sure he would have been surprised by the relative success of this novella (60 pages). Sir George writes well about what he knows and this is a land battle in the late nineteenth century. He imagines the British army being ill prepared and suffering because of a better equipped and better trained enemy. The book does serve as a warning to Britain as Chesney sketches the political situation as he saw it in 1870's England: an economy dependent on trade and raw materials supplied by its commonwealth, with an army that was being scaled down in deference to a more powerful navy. He imagines a situation where troubles in Ireland and in India have stretched the army to a point where it is not able to defend its homeland. Although the invading country is not named it is obviously Germany. The alternate history serves as an introduction to the real meat of the book which a disastrous defensive action against the invasion.

Chesney writes from the point of view of a reservist called up with a couple of days notice to fight for his country. The description of the logistics of an overstretched transport system and the battle itself seems quite realistic. It was particularly relevant for me because I know the countryside around Dorking very well and could easily relate to the protagonist who does his best to do his bit in a situation that is confused and difficult. The battle scene itself is vividly described both from the point of view of the soldiers and the civilians inevitably caught up in the conflict. It is not an anti-war book, nor a book of heroic action it is rather a blow by blow account of a few days of military action and its consequences.

A political and strategic battle story whose realistic well written style holds the attention, the later addition of its significance to a genre still over 40 years away from its creation makes this well worth a look. I would not be averse to reading one of Chesney's other works of fiction if I came across them in a second hand bookshop. 3.5 stars. ( )

I am not sure what to think. This was published in 1800's. Which after you read this and realize when and what the story is about one just might be gob-smacked. It was only 47 pages, but a bit of a challenge to read. It just ran together. But again, lets look at when it was published. I don't want to say what this is about, that will take away from everything. But its short and won't take to much of your time.

But having said what I said I must spoil the book. I mean the author talks about a German invasion into the UK. They actually set foot on British soil. I shall make mention again that this was published in something like 1847. I am still gob-smacked by this 47 page story. ( )

"The Battle of Dorking" is a short story that first appeared in an influential English political magazine in 1871 that describes a hypothetical invasion of England by Germany/Prussia from the viewpoint of a common citizen, not unlike "Red Dawn" (1984) as a more recent example. It is notable because it was the spark that set off the fuse of the "Invasion literature" genre (see Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasion_literature ), from which eventually came the likes of "War of the Worlds" and James Bond from the "spy mania" leading up to WWI. Invasion literature was also highly influential in the years leading up to the First World War in helping set popular mood and national policies. The genre continues to this day, post-911, with an "invasion" of "alien invasion" themed movies, books etc..

The book is available online at Internet Archive:
http://www.archive.org/details/battleofdorking00chesrich ( )