About the book: 2002 / No child can be understood if the parents are not known; no revolution can be understood unless the previous order is known; no colony can be understood unless the native country of the colonists is known; not a single new world can be understood if the world that preceded it is not known. The following are stories that have come down to us from the planet Capitol. They tell of a society built on plastic, steel and carbon - all of which were meant to last forever, and all of which crumbled to dust. These tales will tell you why - and how - Abner Doone embarked on a path of destruction.