(1897-1968) UK writer, mostly of espionage thrillers (some as by Don Betteridge) and detective mysteries, the two genres being perhaps most successfully combined in Maginot Line Murder (1939). The entertainment value of his sf is somewhat limited, as he used the form primarily to provide platforms for extended right-wing arguments about Future War, Weapons and the easily compromised nature of peace, mostly set in the Near Future; the main exception is The Cavalry Went Through (1930), an Alternate History tale set in World War One featuring a Napoleonic figure who defeats Germany, ending the conflict in 1917. In Armoured Doves: A Peace Book (1930) Scientists combine to end war, as does the hero of Secret Weapon (1941), whose Invention of an atomic bomb ends World War Two in short order; later, in The Flying Saucer (1948), which is not sf, the same scientist continues his peace campaign by creating an imaginary Martian threat against the world. Newman, who appears as himself in this book, acknowledged that its source was André Maurois's Le Chapitre Suivant (1927 chap; trans as The Next Chapter 1928 chap). Further novels combining politics and Future War themes include Shoot! (1949), in which a Russian Invasion of Europe sets off a nuclear World War Three; The Blue Ants: The First Authentic Account of the Russian-Chinese War of 1970 (1962), told with minimal fictional content as a Future History and Draw the Dragon's Teeth (1967), in which pacifists are shown to be dangerously foolish as war breaks out between Egypt and Israel. The Wishful Think (1954) is a borderline-sf story about politicized ESP. [JC]
Bernard Charles Newman
born Ibstock, Leicestershire: 8 May 1897
died London: 19 February 1968
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