"Gentlemen, you are mad!"

I inherited a book from my late Grandfather about 20 years ago, entitled "Gentlemen: You Are Mad!" authored by Pierrepont B. Noyes and published in 1946. Evidently it was previously published in 1927 with the title "The Pallid Giant".

It's a fascinating story of a man who travels to France, and exploring in cave country, discovers evidence of an ancient civilization. Translating an ancient manuscript, he uncovers a story about superpowers who have developed an ultimate weapon (atomic energy?) and, despite their efforts to stop their war, end up destroying themselves and their civilization.

Just wondering if anyone has ever seen or read this book. The story is incredible, with many parallels to our civilization of today. Interesting, given that it was 1st published in the 1920's, before our atomic weapons were developed..

never heard of it. if it was true i wonder if the "manuscript" was a prediction and not history?

Though Pallid Giant did not sell millions of copies, Noyes was well connected, and his novel was not forgotten. It was republished in the Spring of 1946, less than a year after Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

[n]Its new title was Gentlemen: You are Mad!, a phrase borrowed from a March, 1946 article on atomic energy by Lewis Mumford in Saturday Review of Literature. Bernard M. Baruch, an eminent member of the newly formed United Nations Atomic Energy Commission wrote an introduction. "Now I am impressed," wrote Baruch, "with the prophetic nature of that story [i.e. Pallid Giant] and believe that a much wider circulation will help our people to realize that momentous changes, political, economic and perhaps social are ahead of the peoples of the
world--if they would avert ultimate annihilation" (p. viii).

Sounds interesting, but I can't see anywhere to buy it. Might have to check out the local library.

The Pallid Giant
Pierrepont B. Noyes
A mix of Alternate World and Apocalyptic destruction. The story is set around the League of Nations negotiations in France after WW1, where some of the participant are contacted by an enigmatic man who claims he has evidence of a lost civilization. They go off looking for it and the story progresses from there. Characterization is good, the plot moves along swiftly with alternating points-of-view, from the information about the lost civilization and the interpretation of the main characters. Tone is grim, perhaps a tad self-important, but great nonetheless. I recommend it!!

Where is the geographical location that they find the lost civilization? What, err, kind of civilization is it?

Zip

My question is does this book has some basis in fact. How does some one years before the first a-bomb is made know anything about it unless it was a popular theory.
H.G. wells had a similiar book, also published before the nuclear age, called "the world set free". It is arevolution of the human race after a nuclear anniliation. (of course in his book, A-bombs can be thrown like hand grenades).

The Romans figured out that if you could break open the smallest unit of matter (which theyc alled the atom, but they ahd no idea it was protons and electrons and such, they jsut named it), it would release vast amounts of energy. At least that's what I've been told.

But anyway, this book was written in, what, 1927 you said? Read here-

People had ideas that atoms could contain large amounts of energy at least as far back as the turn of the last century.

How does the book describe this "ultimate weapon" I see you call it atomic.
Are you saying its atomic because thats your idea of what an ultimate weapon is in general, or does how the book describe the weapon lead you to think its an atomic weapon.

Hope that made sense.

[edit on 15/5/05 by Skibum]

I pulled the book at and glanced through it again-it's been a number of years since I read it...
Anyway, in the book, the civilization was discovered in France. The ultimate weapon, rather than being like an atomic bomb, was described as a death ray that turned all it contacted into dust. The only protection the warring people had was to build shelters under the ocean, because the death ray (which was called the Klepton-Holorif) could penetrate earth and rock. I guess my perception that the weapon was atomic was based on the introduction, which compared the situation to what the world was dealing with in the late 40's with the introduction of atomic weapons. Also, the devestation described was similar.

The thing that struck me so much about this book is that the manuscript did a wonderful job in describing how two "intelligent, rational" countries/cultures, each possessing these doomsday weapons, allow their fears and mistrust to develop to the point that they obliterate each other, and the earth with it. Even as survivors gather, some cannot let go of the "security" of having the defense of the doomsday weapon.

I think Logical Psycho made a reference to an old Indian poem about "ancient atomic power" in this thread...