Editing Last and First Men (section)

{{Short description|1930 novel by Olaf Stapledon}}
{{About|the novel|the film|Last and First Men (film)}}
{{EngvarB|date=September 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2020}}
{{Infobox book | <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Novels or Wikipedia:WikiProject_Books -->
| name          = Last and First Men
| image         = lastandfirstmen firstedition.jpg
| caption = First edition cover
| author        = [[Olaf Stapledon]]
| illustrator   =
| cover_artist  =
| country       = United Kingdom
| language      = English
| genre         = {{ubli|[[list of science fiction novels|Science fiction]]|[[Future history]]|[[Speculative evolution]]}}
| published     = 1930 ([[Methuen Publishing|Methuen]])
| media_type    = Print (hardback & paperback)
| pages         = 336
| isbn          = 978-1-85798-806-2
| oclc= 43880808
}}
'''''Last and First Men: A Story of the Near and Far Future''''' is a "[[future history]]" [[science fiction]] novel written in 1930 by the British author [[Olaf Stapledon]]. A work of unprecedented scale in the genre, it describes the history of humanity from the present onwards across two billion years<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/books/last-and-first-man-of-vision/161949.article|title=Last and first man of vision|publisher=Times Higher Education|date=23 January 1995|access-date=1 October 2014}}</ref> and eighteen distinct human [[species]], of which our own is the first. The book employs a [[List of narrative techniques|narrative conceit]] that, under subtle inspiration, the novelist has unknowingly been dictated a [[Channeling (New Age)|channelled]] text from the last human species.

Stapledon's conception of history follows a repetitive cycle with many varied [[civilisations]] rising from and descending back into savagery over millions of years, as the later civilisations rise to far greater heights than the first. The book anticipates the science of [[genetic engineering]], and is an early example of the fictional [[Group mind (science fiction)|supermind]]: a consciousness comprising many [[telepathy|telepathically]] linked individuals.

In 1932, Stapledon followed ''Last and First Men'' with the far less acclaimed ''[[Last Men in London]]''. Another Stapledon novel, ''[[Star Maker]]'' (1937), could also be considered a sequel to ''Last and First Men'' (mentioning briefly man's evolution on Neptune), but is even more ambitious in scope, being a history of the entire universe.

It is the 11th title in the [[SF Masterworks]] series.