The Tide Went Out
Also known as Thirst! (a revised edition).
When London journalist Philip Wade learns that his article on nuclear weapons testing has been censored by the British government, his interest turns to the attempted cover-up. Wade's investigation leads to a mysterious job offer in a newly-formed government department, and here the truth of the oncoming catastrophe is revealed. The country is rife with uncertainty and distrust - then the water levels start to drop.
Originally published in 1958, this gripping apocalyptic novel poses pertinent questions about censorship and the potential for violence in the face of dwindling resources. How much of the truth is too much? Who can you really trust? And what happens when the water runs out?
Charles Eric Maine was the pseudonym of David McIlwain (1921-1981), a prolific writer of science fiction novels in the 1950s and 1960s. Maine was renowned for fast-paced thriller plotlines, which explored the unintended consequences of scientific progress.
Now reissued as part of the British Library Science Fiction Classics series.
Charles Eric Maine
Charles Eric Maine didn’t write about the future to escape the present—he used science fiction as a scalpel to dissect it.
Emerging in post-war Britain, Maine carved a distinctive path through mid-20th-century speculative fiction, blending clinical precision with a deep unease about where humanity was headed. His work wasn’t about flashy gadgetry or distant galaxies; it was about the ethical fractures and psychological tension hiding in the very technologies we were beginning to trust. Whether unraveling the consequences of cryogenics in The Mind of Mr. Soames or exploring time travel as a psychological experiment in Timeliner, he approached each story like a thought experiment with real human cost.
British Library Science Fiction Classics
British Library Science Fiction Classics consists of 14 total books. The current recommended reading order for the series is provided below.
