The 11th volume of the collected works of Poul Anderson includes the first book of the “Technical History” series - one of the most ambitious in world science fiction, covering five thousand years of future history. It all started with the expansion of humanity into space. Then the worlds colonized by earthlings are united by the Trade and Technical League, whose main principle is profit first. Its heroes were the star traders, the most famous of whom were the merchant prince Nicholas van Rijn and his assistant David Faulkain. Gradually, the League disintegrates and in its place, after an era of unrest, comes the Terran Empire. The story of the Empire is told primarily through Dominic Flandry, an agent of the Empire who fights various foreign and domestic enemies. But even after the inevitable collapse of the empire there were interesting times...

In the story “Wings of Victory,” the author mainly discusses how the social structure of society is influenced by “heightened territorial instinct and extreme individualism,” due to the fact that intelligent beings have an “exorbitant bodily appetite.” At the same time, there is practically no action. * * *Two people work on the planet Lucifer, a place that fully lives up to its name. One of them tells the other the story of his life and his doubts about the capacity of the Lord Almighty. Why does God, a loving God who has brought man close to himself, allows evil? Or maybe He really is a Hunter, and at the hour when He comes for us, the highest valor then lies in the fact that we, knowing His invincibility, still give Him a chance to hunt? (“The Problem of Pain”)* * *Trade of Solar systems with the constellation Sagittarius and the regions of space beyond it are under threat. The only acceptable transport corridor passes through a part of space controlled by the Borthdian Empire, which catches all possible spaceships and captures them. The fate of the crew members is even more terrible - their brains are processed and, although the astronauts are aware of their position, they are subordinate to the pirates. Trade Prince Van Rijn and his companions are trying to find a way out of this situation. (“Profit margin”)* * *If in order to get into Space, you need to enter the Academy, then you need to prepare for exams. But, if, in addition, you also need to perform at the Human Festival as a representative of the Chinese community of San Francisco and help your friend’s father stage a new play, then absolutely a dragon is needed... And all paths lead to the fulfillment of a dream. (“A Little Lesson in Racial Awareness”)* * *The spaceship crash-landed on the planet. It would seem that everything is simple: there is a warehouse of spare parts on the planet. But the warehouse is thousands of kilometers away, you can’t carry the necessary spare parts by hand, and the aborigines have a strict taboo - any circle is sacred, which means it cannot be used for “dirty” utilitarian work. The earthlings brilliantly extricate themselves from this situation, at the same time greatly shaking local religious dogmas. (“Triangular Wheel”)* * *The militant Kraokans invaded the planet Venessa. David Faulkain is called upon to resolve the crisis. The first step is “discovering their damn planetary system”... (“The Invisible Sun”)* * *Emil Dolmadi - head of a small branch galactic company "Drinks and Spices", located on the hydrogen planet Suleiman. The branch buys a certain shrub from the natives, used on other hydrogen planets as a spice. But one fine day, representatives of one of these planets came to Suleiman and began to harvest the crops on their own, taking it from the aborigines. (“Esau”)* * *Three earthlings, lost on the hostile planet Diomedes, need not only to survive, caught up in the war of the aborigines, but also to send a signal for help. However, for Nicholas van Rijn, no task seems too difficult... (“War of the Wings”)

ContentsSandra Misel. Chronology of technical civilization Stories Wings of victory (translation by M. Pchelintsev) The problem of pain (translation by M. Pchelintsev) Profit margin (translation by M. Pchelintsev) A short lesson in racial self-awareness (translation by M. Pchelintsev) The Triangular Wheel (translation by A. Alexandrova) The Invisible Sun (translation by A. Alexandrova) Esau (translation by M. Pchelintsev) War of the Wings (novel, translation by M. Pchelintsev)