"SF historian and editor Hartwell, who in little more than a year has produced massive anthologies of horror (The Dark Descent) and fantasy (Masterpieces of Fantasy and Enchantment), now performs a similar service for SF readers with this chest-denting, 1100-page volume. He has brought together 53 selections, virtually every one of high quality, fully a third from Europe, Asia or Latin America. Among the best stories in this first-rate collection are J. G. Ballard's "Chronopolis," about a future in which time pieces are outlawed; Robert Sheckley's "Ghost V," set on a paradise planet haunted by monsters from the subconscious, a story that expertly mixes suspense and humor; Philip K. Dick's chilling future war scenario, "Second Variety"; Larry Niven's tale of night of apocalyptic change, "Inconstant Moon"; and "Vintage Season," about decadent time tourists who travel to historical tragedies to enjoy them as theater, by Henry Kuttner and his wife, C. L. Moore. There are also fine tales by Gene Wolfe, Arthur C. Clarke, Stanislaw Lem, Fritz Leiber, C. M. Kornbluth, Ursula LeGuin, Robert Heinlein, Italo Calvino, Thomas Disch and John Updike. The editor has contributed a scholarly, engaging introduction to each story." -- From Publishers Weekly

Said to be one of the best sci-fi anthologies to be found.