ABSTRACT
The death of Queen Victoria in 1901 brought an era of unparalleled peace and prosperity to an end for Britain, although such conditions were not equally shared by all Britons, let alone by all subjects of the British Empire. New literary genres created in the waning years of Victoria’s reign assessed future prospects in strikingly gloomy terms. Particularly dystopian were popular genres such as science fiction, the spy thriller, and the horror genre, all of which questioned the legitimacy of ideas of progress and imperial rule in their own distinct ways. Vexing visions of degeneration and civilizational collapse plagued the new century from the outset. The works of authors such as Wells, Kipling, Conrad, and Stoker, accessible bestsellers all, look forward to a century of conflict, turmoil, and, at times, darkness in Britain and across Europe.
