Childhood's End is a 1953 science fiction novel by the British author Arthur C. Clarke. The story follows the peaceful alien invasion of Earth by the mysterious Overlords, whose arrival begins decades of apparent utopia under indirect alien rule, at the cost of human identity and culture.
Cover of first edition hardcover
Barrage balloons over London during World War II. Clarke observed balloons like these floating over the city in 1941. He recalls that his earliest idea for the story may have originated with this scene, with the giant balloons becoming alien ships in the novel.
Sir Arthur Charles Clarke was a British science fiction writer, science writer, futurist, inventor, undersea explorer, and television series host.
In 1965, on one of the sets of 2001: A Space Odyssey
Clarke receives the Marconi International Fellowship Award from Prince Claus of the Netherlands in 1982
Clarke at his home in Sri Lanka, 2005
Clarke's novella "The Road to the Sea" was originally published in Two Complete Science-Adventure Books in 1951 as "Seeker of the Sphinx".