Hubert Rogers, "...And Then There Were None"

Cover, Astounding Science Fiction, June 1951.

My second Astounding cover, and at current prices there ain't likely to be a lot more. Wonderful Rogers cover illustrating a classic story by Eric Frank Russell, one of SF's greatest satirists.

"...And Then There Were None" is something of a minor foundational work in modern libertarianism. It poses the question: "How can pompous bureaucrats from Earth persuade a colonial planet full of anarchists to accept the blessings of government?" Short answer: they can’t.