The Invasion

"The Invasion" by William Le Queux is a fictional narrative written in the early 20th century. This novel presents a chilling portrayal of England facing an unexpected military invasion, specifically from Germany, highlighting the potential repercussions of unpreparedness for war. The story begins with sub-editors in London discussing strange interruptions in communication, setting a tense atmosphere that foreshadows the looming threat of invasion. The opening of the book introduces a quiet Sunday morning in London, where two journalists, Fergusson and Baines, are returning home after a night of work. They encounter troubling reports of telecommunication breakdowns between important coastal cities. Their concerns escalate when a motorist recounts a shocking encounter with men damaging telegraph lines, leading to the alarming realization that German soldiers are landing on English shores. As panic spreads through the communication center and London remains blissfully unaware, the narrative creates a sense of urgency and tension that draws the reader into a scenario of chaos and fear. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

William Tufnell Le Queux was an Anglo-French journalist and writer. He was also a diplomat, a traveller, a flying buff who officiated at the first British air meeting at Doncaster in 1909, and a wireless pioneer who broadcast music from his own station long before radio was generally available; his claims regarding his own abilities and exploits, however, were usually exaggerated. His best-known works are the anti-French and anti-Russian invasion fantasy The Great War in England in 1897 (1894) and the anti-German invasion fantasy The Invasion of 1910 (1906), the latter becoming a bestseller.