The works of several masters of the genre are brought together here in a diversified and dynamic collection of classic stories that not only raise science fiction to new standards of style and character, but also offer brilliant insights into a decade of optimism and disillusionment.

The Fifties were a decade of fear and promise, of witch hunts and phenomenal technological growth. Turning both a piercing critical eye and an entertaining sense of humor and hope toward those years, these stories tell of the fantastic dreams of yesterday and offer prophetic visions of tomorrow.

Contents:

• Preface by Frederik Pohl
• Introduction by Martin H. Greenberg and Joseph Olander
• Spectator Sport by John D. MacDonald
• Feedback by Katherine MacLean
• Bettyann by Kris Neville
• Dark Interlude by Fredric Brown and Mack Reynolds
• What Have I Done? by Mark Clifton
• DP! by Jack Vance
• The Liberation of Earth by William Tenn
• A Bad Day for Sales by Fritz Leiber
• Saucer of Loneliness by Theodore Sturgeon
• Heirs Apparent by Robert Abernathy
• 5,271,009 by Alfred Bester
• Short in the Chest by Margaret St. Clair
• The Academy by Robert Sheckley
• Nobody Bothers Gus by Algis Budrys
• Happy Birthday, Dear Jesus by Frederik Pohl
• A Work of Art by James Blish
• The Country of the Kind by Damon Knight
• The Education of Tigress McCardle by C.M. Kornbluth
• The Cage by A. Bertram Chandler
• The Last of the Deliverers by Poul Anderson
• Adrift on the Policy Level by Chan Davis