Published in 1895, The Crack of Doom is a scientific romance by Robert Cromie, an Irish journalist and novelist who was among the earliest writers to speculate about the destructive power latent in matter itself. The novel features a secret society whose leader plans to destroy the Earth by releasing the energy contained in a single atom — an idea that seems remarkably prescient given the atomic age that followed half a century later.
As an early example of apocalyptic science fiction, it has attracted attention from historians of the genre. Download this free EPUB from Better Gutenberg for this intriguing Victorian scientific romance.