This book offers an in-depth analysis of Keith Roberts's Pavane and explores why this work was instrumental to the evolution of the Science Fiction genre in British Literature. In addition to a focused exploration of the individual stories and themes that make up Pavane, this study also presents a commentary on the mosaic structure of this work, and the impact this has on the book as a whole. Through its discussion of themes such as religion, technology and morality, this text explores how alternate history plots can be used as a commentary or criticism of the current state of society.

Paul Kincaid has won the Thomas Clareson Award from the Science Fiction Research Association, and has twice won the BSFA Non-Fiction Award. He has been shortlisted on multiple occasions for the Hugo Award for Best Related Work, The British Fantasy Award, and the Locus Award.