Saints and Revolutionaries is a non-fiction work by the writer

Writer

A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....

 and philosopher Olaf Stapledon

Olaf Stapledon

William Olaf Stapledon was a British philosopher and author of several influential works of science fiction.-Life:...

, published by Heinemann

Heinemann (book publisher)

Heinemann is a UK publishing house founded by William Heinemann in Covent Garden, London in 1890. On William Heinemann's death in 1920 a majority stake was purchased by U.S. publisher Doubleday. It was later acquired by commemorate Thomas Tilling in 1961...

 in 1939.

The book was part of the I Believe series, an initiative whereby leading British intellectuals of the day could pursue an argument pertinent to the times. Stapledon's friend Naomi Mitchison

Naomi Mitchison

Naomi May Margaret Mitchison, CBE was a Scottish novelist and poet. She was appointed CBE in 1981; she was also entitled to call herself Lady Mitchison, CBE since 5 October 1964 .- Childhood and family background :Naomi Margaret Haldane was...

 also contributed a volume to the series, as did J.D. Beresford, whose 1911 novel The Hampdenshire Wonder

The Hampdenshire Wonder

The Hampdenshire Wonder is a 1911 science fiction novel by J. D. Beresford. It is one of the first novels to involve a wunderkind. The child in it is named Victor Stott and he is the son of a famous cricket player. This origin is perhaps a reference to H. G. Wells's father. The novel concerns his...

 was an inspiration for Stapledon's own novel, Odd John

Odd John

Odd John: A Story Between Jest and Earnest is a 1935 science fiction novel by the British author Olaf Stapledon. The novel explores the theme of the Übermensch in the character of John Wainwright, whose supernormal human mentality inevitably leads to conflict with normal human society and to the...

.

Overview

Stapledon's book pursues themes familiar to readers of his science fiction - the universe and humanity's place in it, both personally and as a species. He argues that humanity is undergoing a period of rapid change and that our beliefs, and the nature of belief itself, are changing.

Contents

1. To-day
2. Saints, and Pacifism
3. Sceptics, and Morality
4. Revolutionaries, and Metaphysics
5. Mainly Speculation

Relation to Stapledon's other works

To an extent, the themes and preoccupations of Saints and Revolutionaries can be said to be present in most of Stapledon's fiction and philosophy. However, the posthumously-published Nebula Maker

Nebula Maker

Nebula Maker is a science fiction novel by Olaf Stapledon, published posthumously by Bran's Head books in 1976. Probably written around 1932-33 , the book is essentially a first draft of the author's 1937 opus Star Maker, though there are many marked differences to the later, more polished work.One...

is closest in theme, as its two main protagonists embody these two roles.