A great work of fantastical adventure-of a world within our world pAt the end of the nineteenth century and the first part of the twentieth century fantastical tales of other worlds and times began to grip the imaginations of the reading public, and the prolific output of authors such as Verne, Rice Burroughs, Haggard and Howard propelled the authors to public recognition and their works to abiding popularity. These were among the best known authors of this genre at the time but they were by no means alone in their endeavours or in their choice of subject matter. Off world destinations-whether real or imagined-were popular as were adventures set in fictional pasts and the exotic legendary cultures of the Atlantean age. Having considered the potentials of time and space it was perhaps inevitable that authors would turn their imaginations to the possibilities of a world within our own-a vast landscape hidden from view, alien in flora, fauna and cultures, peopled by strange beings and rac