An old volunteer tells his grandchildren how Britain, complacent and unprepared, was invaded by a German army and defeated in the Surrey hills near Dorking. Chesney wrote it in 1871 after the Prussian victory over France, as a warning; this 1914 edition adds an introduction drawing parallels with the new war.
The sensation that launched the invasion-scare genre and influenced writers from Wells to Childers. Download the free EPUB.