futuristic-war-narrative

In the foreword, Hugo Gernsback explains his tradition of producing annual Christmas greeting booklets since the early 1930s, highlighting the 1950 issue titled "World War III—in Retrospect," which depicted a future world war to emphasize the futility of war. He accuses Collier's magazine of plagiarizing his idea without credit in their 1951 special issue, noting that several Collier's staff were on his mailing list. Gernsback republishes his original story to assert his authorship and to familiarize readers with the original concept.