Edge of the Knife
Author: first_name: H. Beam
last_name: Piper
Language: English
Year: 1957

The Terro-Human Future History is Piper's detailed account of the next 6000 years of human history. 1942, the year the first fission reactor was constructed, is defined as the year 1 A.E. (Atomic Era). In 1973, a nuclear war devastates the planet, eventually laying the groundwork for the emergence of a Terran Federation, once humanity goes into space and develops antigravity technology.<br><br>

The story "The Edge of the Knife" (collected in Empire) occurs slightly before the war, and involve