Great Space Battles

Big spaceship pictures future history. A book aimed at kids with very cool pictures of spaceships, and a decent series of short stories throughout, at least as far as that goes, detailing some elements of the society. This aimed at younger reader books full of cool artwork and short tales of interstellar conflict and other adventures amidst the backdrop of Cowley's Terran Trade Authority future history is still fun. The book is broken into two sections :- The Laguna Wars Great Space Battles : The Nightmare Beings - Stewart Cowley Great Space Battles : The Forgotten Fleet - Stewart Cowley Great Space Battles : The First Clash - Stewart Cowley Great Space Battles : A Mysterious Liquid - Stewart Cowley Great Space Battles : A Clue - Stewart Cowley Great Space Battles : the Breakout - Stewart Cowley Great Space Battles : A Desperate Race - Stewart Cowley Great Space Battles : The Defence of Terra - Stewart Cowley Great Space Battles : The Final Victory? - Stewart Cowley Conquest Of Space Great Space Battles : The Nimrodian Club - Stewart Cowley Great Space Battles : The Duel of Sisuphus Three - Stewart Cowley Great Space Battles : Great Space Battles - Stewart Cowley Great Space Battles : Colonization Incident 1 - Stewart Cowley Great Space Battles : Colonization Incident 2 - Stewart Cowley Great Space Battles : The Pirate World - Stewart Cowley Great Space Battles : The Hunters of Asteron - Stewart Cowley First ship destruction fleet response. 3.5 out of 5 Manual control necessary. 3 out of 5 A long job. 3 out of 5 Surprise capture. 4 out of 5 Prisoner info not easy. 3.5 out of 5 City ships unstoppable. 3.5 out of 5 Reassembling problems. 3 out of 5 City ship invasion. 4 out of 5 Blockade search. 3 out of 5 Killer game. 4 out of 5 Monster trucks. 3 out of 5 Trade Authority dislike conflict. 3.5 out of 5 Mucousy worms. 3 out of 5 Cerberus illusion insanity. 3.5 out of 5 Mutant colony conflict. 4 out of 5 Crimelord missile launcher duel. 3.5 out of 5 3.5 out of 5

**Adapted from the Wikipedia article on the Terran Trade Authority** Spacecraft 2000-2100 AD (by Stewart Cowley, 1978) Great Space Battles (by Stewart Cowley and Charles Herridge, 1979) SpaceWreck: Ghost Ships and Derelicts of Space (by Stewart Cowley, 1979) Starliners: Commercial Travel in 2200 AD (by Stewart Cowley, 1980) Aliens in Space: An Illustrated Guide to the Inhabited Galaxy (1979) Star Quest: An Incredible Voyage into the Unknown (1979) The Fantastic Planet: A World of Magic and Mystery (1980) Dangerous Frontiers: The Fight for Survival on Distant Worlds (1980) (Printed as Settlers in Space: The Fight for Survival on Distant Worlds in the US) Worlds at War: An Illustrated Study of Interplanetary Conflict (1980) Space Patrol: The Official Guide to the Galactic Security Force (1980) The above series of six books was written by Stewart Cowley using the pseudonym "Steven Caldwell." They were published by Intercontinental Book Productions in the UK and republished by Crescent Books in the US.

This book has the personal distinction of fostering a lifelong interest in science fiction. Its collection of seperate stories of a fictional future human interstellar federation, the centerpiece being the short and brutal war between Terra and the Lagunians. Written in a historical narrative, the stories cover a possible future of human history written in the past tense. It was memorable for creating a world of human colonization and exploration riddled with civil unrest and adversity, contrary to the resolved idealism Star Trek. Humans didn't change but just spread out among the stars, and our flaws went with us. Various chapters of piracy, rebellion, colonial crisis, planetary phenomena, and human greed and struggle. The illustrations are of a generally very high quality and does a great job reinforcing the written world. The book is oversized to do the artwork justice which really is the focus of this book. I heard that some the illustrations were used as inspiration for the computer game "Homeworld", a shame Cowley doesn't write more about the Terran Trade Authority, it may have started something for a movie or miniseries, perhaps writing Children Books was more lucrative...

I received this book as a Christmas gift in 1979. Recently, while going through some of my old things, I came across this book again and I must say that the illustrations and text are just as compelling today as they were 25 years ago. As part of a popular series of "future history" handbooks for juvenile readers in Cowley's Terran Trade Authority series, the premise of the series was quite simple yet inspired - create a collection of "fact-packed" stories based on the scenes depicted in several pieces of sci-fi illustration that previously adorned book or magazine covers and package each story together with its corresponding illustration in an attractive, glossy coffee-table-type book. This particular edition documents major interplanetary wars between Earthmen and aliens, the struggle of human colonists against the hostile environments of distant planets as well as stories of future law enforcement agencies battling space pirates and pan-galactic organised crime. The writing is picturesque and is phrased in the typically dry and information-rich style of a documentary book meant for a young audience aged 10 years and above. The illustrations featured are some of the most impressive and vivid work I have ever seen from a selection of sci-fi artists who were either some of the most promising talents or the leading lights of their day. Some of these illustrators are still very much active today and have won much praise and many awards for their work.Being long out of print, this and other books in the same series are now highly sought after collectable items. If you ever come across a copy, don't hesitate to grab it. Besides this title, I also own "Starliners: Commercial Spacetravel in 2200 AD," (also by the same author) which I also highly recommend. They make for such fascinating "idle-time" reading and are such a great feast for the eyes that I don't intend to part with either of these treasures, ever. "Great Space Battles" makes for a great gift for the SF fan who is young or still young at heart.