Overview

One of the great anti-utopian satires of the twentieth century, an inspiration to writers from Orwell to Vonnegut, at last in a modern translation.

Plot

Man discovers a species of giant, intelligent newts and learns to exploit them so successfully that the newts gain skills and arms enough to challenge man's place at the top of the animal kingdom.

Themes and Satire

Along the way, Karel Capek satirizes science, runaway capitalism, fascism, journalism, militarism, even Hollywood.