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Langdon-Davies, John

(1897-1971) South African-born poet and author, mostly in the UK from the age of six, a pacifist in World War One, and much involved in Spain and its conflicts during the interWar years; he is of some sf interest for A Short History of the Future (1936), which – like J D Bernal's The World, the Flesh and the Devil (1929 chap) – is essentially an exercise in Futures Studies avant la lettre, predicting a Utopian future by the end of the twentieth century. In the 1960s, he became very well known as the creator of the Jackdaw series of picture-book history aids for children. [JC]

John Langdon-Davies

born Eschowe, Zululand, South Africa: 18 March 1897

died 5 December 1971

works

• A Short History of the Future (London: George Routledge and Sons, 1936) [hb/]
• The Unknown, Is It Nearer? (New York: New American Library/Signet, 1956) with Eric J Dingwall [nonfiction: pb/Richard Powers]

links

• Internet Speculative Fiction Database

Entry from The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (2011-current) edited by John Clute and David Langford.
Accessed 18:15 pm on 13 July 2026.
<https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/langdon-davies_john>