Valery Brussof

The Republic of the Southern Cross and Other Stories Valery Brussof

Originally published in 1918.

Short stories assembled from various Russian sources, including The Republic of the Southern Cross, Antarctica, perhaps the twenty-fourth century. The historical development of a cultural crisis in terms of psychopathology. Antarctica has been extensively colonized and its mineral resources developed. Its mines and factories have become the world’s leading producers of metal goods. The wealth represented in these industries becomes so great that the continent declares its dependence and sets itself up as the Republic of the Southern Cross.
— Everett Franklin Bleiler/ Richard Bleiler (Science Fiction, the Early Years)

This volume, to which we have given the title of The Republic of the Southern Cross contains the best of Brussof’s tales, and they all exemplify this particular attitude towards life. Six tales are taken from The Axis of the Earth, but “For Herself or Another” is taken from the volume entitled Nights and Days, and “Rhea Silvia” and “Eluli, son of Eluli,” from the book bearing the title of Rhea Silvia, in the Russian Universal Library.
— Stephen Graham