Just Finished Reading: Beachheads in Space edited by August Derleth

This was a collection of short SF stories from 1950-1952. What actually surprised me most about these stories was that they where almost without exception rather downbeat and depressing. I hadn’t actually read stories from this era for a while so it came as a bit of a shock. I would have thought that the 50’s was a time of optimism and hope after the depredations of World War 2. Apparently not – or at least according to this collection. One story in particular stuck in my mind. This was ‘The Years draw Nigh’ by Lester del Rey in which 40 starships have been sent out to explore the Galaxy looking for life and habitable planets to colonise. At the beginning of the story 39 had returned empty handed. Starship 40 is years overdue and presumed lost but finally returns with a story of mechanical failure and heroic repair efforts on a dead world. But the news they carry proves to be devastating - not a single habitable world discovered in years of searching. On receipt of this news Earth pulls back from further endeavour and continues its slide into hopelessness. All very depressing I can tell you! Only one for major fans of the era or maybe if you’re writing a paper on the cultural tenor of early 50’s America.