War with the Newts Paperback – February 1, 1990

Giant Newts are found in the south seas. It's observed they're intelligent, capable of speech and using tools. How to exploit the Newts for human gain is soon discovered. Said "discoveries" spread across the planet and a period of unprecedented prosperity for humans ensues, "The Age of Newts." Various societies to improve the lot of the Newts spring up, schools for Newts are opened. Newts multiply and multiply, eventually finding themselves requiring more habitat to support their growing population. Newt habitat are the shallow coastal shorelines of the world and Newts begin a campaign to increase those. It doesn't end well for humanity. Capek is a social satirist in the same vein as George Orwell, Jonathan Swift and Jody Scott, but very much a pessimist. The only ray of hope, of redemption in Newts is the postulated possibility that the Newts too will eventually destroy their civilization, for reasons similar to the cause of humanity's downfall, namely "human nature." In the concluding chapter, The Author Talks with Himself, Capek summarizes the internal dilemma of his own pessimistic prescience, and makes the moral case for social satirists: "Don't ask me what I want. Do you think that through my will human continents are falling to bits, do you think that I wanted this to happen? It is simply the logic of events; as if I could intervene. I did what I could; I warned them in time... They all had a thousand absolutely sound economic and political reasons why it's impossible. I'm not a politician or an economist; I can't change their opinions, can I? What is one to do? The earth will probably sink and drown; but at least it will be the result of generally acknowledged political and economic ideas, at least it will be accomplished with the help of the science, industry and public opinion, with theapplication of all human ingenuity! No cosmic catastrophy, nothing but state, official, economic, and other causes. Nothing can be done to prevent it." Written in 1936 War with the Newts may seem a tad slow in places for readers of today, weaned as we are on multiple, simultaneous, attention span-eroding streams of constant external input, but the reader willing to enter into the pace of Capek's novel will be rewarded with a story that is funny, sometimes horrifying, often thought-provoking, richly satisfying and still very much relevant, Recommended!-Mary Whealen

It’s war! Humans versus newts. And odds favor a newt victory since a number of key factors work in their favor: newts can continue fighting even after losing two-thirds of their internal organs; newts are absolute realists and make highly disciplined soldiers since they are not bogged down by things like fantasy or humor or lofty ideas; the current population of these creatures standing four foot high when walking upright on their hind legs has reached over twenty billion, outnumbering humans ten to one. Twenty billion! That’s a lot of well-armed, fighting newts.Such is the crisis in Karel Čapek's 1936 novel, War With the Newts, a highly entertaining satirical dystopian alternate history that's, in turn, fascinating, humorous, a tad unsettling and occasionally downright creepy. The Czech author has addressed similar themes in his most famous work, RUR (Rossum's Universal Robots), a play where the word robot appeared in writing for the first time. In the play its humans versus robots, in the novel Karel Čapek traces the history leading up to the newt wars, beginning with the discovery by one Captain van Toch of these giant salamanders living underwater off the coast of a remote Indonesian island.The captain’s dealings with these amiable creatures starts off innocently enough: the newts trade pearls for knives whereby they can better open oysters, their main diet. Ever the opportunist, van Toch rekons these newts can be his pearl hunters all across Indonesia. Sharks have always kept the newt population in check. So, to increase their numbers, the captain arms the newts with anti-shark guns. More newts, more pearls, more money. And as soon as the good Captain recognized these tireless workers so eager to please are especially fit for underwater construction and could effectively be put to use for human engineering projects, he shares his vision with a leader in the world of industry and commerce.Bingo. It's not long before the formation of The Salamander Syndicate, owning and trading millions of newts across the globe. Newts boost the world economy – utilizing a newt workforce, nations claim more ownership of the oceans and seas. Meanwhile, after subjecting newts to extensive tests and experiments, scientists write articles explaining now that newts have expanded their habitat, the coiled-up spring of evolution has been provided an opportunity to unwind.Philosophical issues arise: Does a newt have a soul? The answers are mixed. A Colonel Britton discoveres newts have no sense of honor or patriotism; Arturo Toscanini observes newts have no music; Mae West can plainly see newts are devoid of sex appeal, thus, on all three counts, newts have no souls. On the other side, a spiritual teacher from India, Sandrabharata Nath, is quoted as remarking: “They have a soul like every other creature and every plant as does everything that lives.”Let the Newts receive a proper education! Many are taught French, literature, rhetoric, etiquette, mathematics and the history of art. Some of the salamanders can even quote Cicero. One journalist observes newt comprehension of the newspapers is at the level of the average human. Prompts us to wonder about those men and women below average. "Human intelligence" begins to sound like an oxymoron.The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and other pro-salamander organizations attempt to insure newts are not treated cruelly or inhumanely not only in their capacity as workers to advance human economy but in all areas of their salamander lives. These goodhearted people must fight ongoing battles on many fronts since the gullible newts willingly play the part of lackey and toady (such irony in this amphibian term) for their brutal human overseers.Big theological question – could newts be baptized? The Catholic Church says no since newts are not Adam’s descendants. However, Protestant churches distribute many millions of copies of Holy Scripture for the newts on waterproof paper and a few eccentric Christian sects attempt to baptize newts. One philosopher even goes so far as to compose a special religious system for newts including faith in the Great Salamander. Where's Christopher Hitchens when you need him most?Years pass. Millions upon millions of newts are everywhere. Young newts want to make football, fascism, sexual perversion and other things human part of their everyday lives. Old newts advocate sticking to traditional newt ways. Well, sort of - those old newts don't mind reading the daily news in human newspapers.Comrade newts! Bourgeois civilization has enslaved your souls. Newts are the new working class; newt labor should be prohibited. So shouts pesky liberal agitators. But governments and commercial interests quickly point out how newts have special skills underwater and that the overall standard of living for humans have risen dramatically. Equally important (actually, more important) profits have risen. If no working salamanders then twenty percent of all factories worldwide would be forced to shut down precipitating economic disaster.Do you detect the entire face of planet earth has been radically altered? Karel Čapek masterfully lampoons and satirizes how we humans can so readily sacrifice decency, compassion and respect for the balance of nature in our quest for self-aggrandizement through the worship of nationalism, economic power and military might. And to think this novel was written on the cusp of the rise of Hitler and Nazism.

Unfortunately the writing style of this book shows its age.Long descriptions of board meetings and committees slow the action.To be honest, this tale bears many similarities to Capek's better know work RUR.Man finds scientific curiosity.Man exploits creature.Creature learns and becomes superior to man.It's a piece of science fiction history and worthy of respect for its vision in the time it was written.It sheds much light on the attitudes and morals of the time. Some do not stand up to modern standards.An interesting book, but not an easy read.

Nominally this is a piece of science fiction from 1936, written by the man best known for introducing the word `robot' to our language. However this is not a book of Death Stars and phasers.It is set in (then) contemporary times and is a satire on politics, society and humanity in general. Colonialism, racism, capitalism, Fascism, appeasement and more all get the satirical going over in a book that combines these serious themes with a fast moving and very readable plot. The book shows how you can be worthy without being dull, erudite without being turgid.That makes it both a very enjoyable read and also one that is likely to appeal not only to science fiction fans but also people who are not normally attracted by the genre.

Really heavy and not particularly engaging for long sections, reads like a very dull history book but interspersed with very long news article exerpts. A difficult read and sadly not my cup of tea

Very political book on the lines of B N WORLD & 1984. ie. warning to the western and eastern world. Very good on the lies and deceptions of countries who deceive themselves on their deceptions whilst abusing anybody and anything for their own greed and avarice. Deconstructs man rather than any label on a political system. Humorous in parts ridiculing the foibles of different countries, eg with Britain's class and snobbery, also the parroting of their newspapers rubbish by their readers.

Read this to find out about a Czech author you do not know, but who invented the word ROBOT and wrote many wonderful book. This book is a sci fi about the newts taking over the word temporarily. ALlegory to the soon to conquer Nazis. Written in the thirties. A fantastic book. Try it!