The starting point of Underground (Fragments of Future Histories) by Liam Gillick is the first science fiction novel ever written, entitled Fragments d'Histoire future and written in 1884 by Gabriel Tarde.

The French philosopher, sociologist and criminologist depicts in his novel the collective functioning of a society that has taken refuge in the heart of the Earth following a climatic disaster.

Liam Gillick has made a contemporary adaptation of Tarde's text, by rewriting the English translation from 1904 by Cloudesley Brereton that had a preface by H.G. Wells. Liam Gillick added a preface on his own by the Italian sociologist Maurizio Lazzarato.

Gabriel Tarde's statements:

« To produce is a passion, to consume is only a taste. »

« The mental space left by the reduction of our needs is taken up by those talents – artistic, poetic and scientific – which multiply and take deep root. they become the true needs of society. They spring from a necessity to produce and not from a necessity to consume. »

Original French Edition:
Gabriel Tarde, Fragment d'Histoire Future (1896)

First English Edition:
Gabriel Tarde Underground Man (1896)
Translated by Cloudesley Brereton (1904)
With a preface by H.G. Wells (1905)
Published by Duckworth, London (1905)

This Edition:
Underground ( Fragments of Future Histories ) (2004)
Translation by Liam Gillick of the 1904 edition.
With a preface by Maurizio Lazzarato (2004)

Table of content:

Preface by Maurizio Lazzarato
Chapter 1.................................Prosperity
Chapter 2.................................Catastrophe
Chapter 3.................................The Struggle
Chapter 4.................................Saved!
Chapter 5.................................Regeneration
Chapter 6.................................Love
Chapter 7.................................The Aesthetic Life