The novel “Flight Into Yesterday”, also known as “The Paradox Men”, by Charles L. Harness was published for the first time in 1953. It’s the expanded version of a novella published in the magazine “Startling Stories” in 1949.

In the second half of the XXII century, the American Empire is always on the brink of war with the Eastern Federation. In this future, American society has regressed significantly and many medieval elements are back such as slavery and sword fighting to settle disputes.

Alar is part of the Society of Thieves but he doesn’t know his real identity. He was found five years earlier with no memory near the wreckage of a spaceship but who is he really? Why do some scientists of the Society of Thieves consider Alar so important? Why do the authorities look for him with a deployment of resources far superior to the cases of other Thieves?

This novel had a peculiar genesis. It was published for the first time in the May 1949 issue of the magazine “Startling Stories” with the title “Flight Into Yesterday”, it was later expanded and published in its first edition as a book in 1953, it was expanded again and republished in 1955 under the title “The Paradox Men” and had a further edition that had some changes in 1981.

For the plot of “The Paradox Men”, Charles L. Harness got inspired by concepts expressed by British historian Arnold J. Toynbee, who analyzed the development and decay of the greatest civilizations in world’s history. According to Toynbee, civilizations are formed in response to a series of challenges and decline when the leaders aren’t able to respond to those challenges.

In “The Paradox Men”, future historians inspired by Toynbee see an analogy between the American Empire and the Assyrian Empire shortly before its collapse. They identify their civilization as “Toynbee 21” and argue that in case of war with the Eastern Federation it would collapse and civilization “Toynbee 22” would emerge as its successor.

Charles L. Harness uses this basic concept to create a complex adventure that includes the clash between the authorities and the Society of Thieves, founded by scientist Kennicot Muir before disappearing. He’s considered dead by almost everyone and his widow has become a slave of his worst enemy but someone thinks he may still be alive.

Throughout the novel, there’s a gradual revelation of the roles and powers of the mysterious Thief Alar, whose true identity is unknown even to himself because he was found with no memory near the wreckage of a starship, but also of the Microfilm Mind (in the latest editions he’s called the Meganet Mind), a sort of human computer.

I wonder if Frank Herbert was inspired by the Microfilm Mind in creating the mentats in his novel “Dune”. Certainly, he used another concept taken from “The Paradox Men”, the one of the personal shield that protects against bullets but not against blades.

Charles L. Harness has been compared to A.E. van Vogt for the ideas included in the “The Paradox Men”, in particular those concerning mental powers. However, Harness manages to maintain a more global consistency. His novel hasn’t a chaotic development but comes to an ending that explains its beginning and gives meaning to the whole story.

Actually, Charles L. Harness isn’t particularly rigorous concerning science. In fact, the author uses scientific concepts as a basis for his quite bold speculations. On the other hand, compared to the average science fiction stories of that age, “The Paradox Men” contains good scientific basis, with a richness of ideas that today would allow the author to write a trilogy of novels 500 pages each instead of one less than 200 pages novel.

“The Paradox Men” is clearly a novel with some characteristics typical of the period in which it was written that became a classic thanks to the many elements combined to form a story far more sophisticated than the ones which typically were published at the time. For me, today it’s still a very enjoyable novel, so I definitely recommend reading it.