The White People

"The vast crowd that line the beflagged route to the Kremlin was, as in New York, friendly and cheering. 'Welcome, Otherworld Visitors to the Land of Socialism!' spelt out the banners, in big Cyrillic letters. 'For Universal Peace and Free Scientific Exchanges!' The chairman of the Supreme Soviet, Noriskin, followed closely along the pattern set by Dr Faradien when he introduced Rogard. And Rogard's message of peace and goodwill, expressed in flawless Russian, once again met with loud and enthusiastic applause." A dizzying blend of speculative history and unnerving prophesy, of utopian justice and the realpolitik of the Cold War, The White People has been in an archive for nearly 60 years. Wrien the same year that Fidel Castro entered Havana in triumph, Harmel presages current threats to our planet by introducing visitors from another - the White People, who came from Oxindu.