The Great Explosion. Illustrated

The Great Explosion is a satirical science fiction novel by Eric Frank Russell, first published in 1962. The story follows an interstellar expedition from Earth, sent to re-establish contact with long-lost human colonies scattered across the galaxy after a mass migration.

The protagonist, Colonel MacGil, leads the mission to persuade the colonies to rejoin Earth's centralized government. However, each colony has evolved its own unique system of governance, culture, and philosophy. The most notable is the planet Gand, inhabited by anarchists who live without government or money and stubbornly reject any external authority with sharp wit and peaceful resistance.

Russell uses humor, irony, and satire to challenge bureaucracy, militarism, and the assumption of cultural superiority. The novel raises thought-provoking questions about freedom, authority, individualism, and what it truly means to be "civilized."