War with the Newts

One of the great anti-utopian satires of the twentieth century, an inspiration to writers from Orwell to Vonnegut, at last in a modern translation. Man discovers a species of giant, intelligent newts and learns to exploit them so successfully that the newts gain skills and arms enough to challenge man's place at the top of the animal kingdom. Along the way, Karel Capek satirizes science, runaway capitalism, fascism, journalism, militarism, even Hollywood. Originally Written In 1936, Two Years Before Capek's Death And Three Years Before The Nazi Invasion Of Czechoslovakia, War With The Newts Is Considered By Many To Be Capek's Greatest Book. Working In The Fantastic Satiric Tradition Of Wells, Orwell, And Vonnegut, Capek Chronicles The Discovery Of A Colony Of Highly Intelligent Giant Salamanders Off The Coast Of An Indonesian Island. Capek Sardonically Details All The Reactions Of The Civilized World - From Horror To Skepticism, From Intellectual Fascination To Mercantile Opportunism - And The Ultimate Destruction From Which It (and The Newts) Might Not Escape. Book One. Andrias Schenchzeri -- I. The Eccentricity Of Captain Van Toch -- 2. Mr Golombek And Mr Valenta -- 3. G.h. Bondy And His Fellow Countryman -- 4. Captain Van Toch{u2019}s Business Enterprise -- 5. Captain J. Van Toch's Trained Lizards -- 6. The Yacht In The Lagoon -- 7. The Yacht In The Lagoon (continued) -- 8. Andrias Schenchzeri -- 9. Andrew Scheuchzer -- 10. The Fair At Nové Strašecí -- 11. Of Men-lizards -- 12. The Salamander Syndicate -- Appendix: The Sex Life Of The Newts -- Book Two. Up The Ladder Of Civilisation -- 1. Mr. Povondra Reads His Paper -- 2. Up The Ladder Of Civilisation -- 3. Mr. Povondra Reads The Paper Again -- Book Three. War With The Newts -- 1. The Massacre On The Cocos Islands -- 2. The Clash In Normandy -- 3. The Incident In The Channel -- 4. Der Nordmolch -- 5. Wolf Meynert Writes His Great Work -- 6. A Warning From X -- 7. The Louisiana Earthquake -- 8. The Chief Salamander Presents His Demands -- 9. The Vaduz Conference -- 10. Mr. Povondra Takes It Upon Himself. By Karel Čapek ; A New Translation From The Czech By Ewald Osers. A Garrigue Book. Translation Of: Válka S Mloky.