The collection includes two works by Arthur C. Clarke: “The City and the Stars” and “The End of Childhood.” Diaspar is a city of the future, whose inhabitants are protected from the harsh deserts of a dying Earth, happy and prosperous. They are immortal and therefore do not think about the past or the future. Liz, a valley also reliably protected from the poisonous tentacles of the desert by high mountains, has become home to completely different people. Unlike the Diasparians, they are mortal and have not lost human feelings - mutual assistance, love, unity with nature - however, they often treat strangers with distrust, being telepaths. And the young man Alvin, who will have to unite two such dissimilar cultures... "The End of Childhood" - a novel that Arthur C. Clarke considered one of his greatest successes. A book that served as a source of inspiration for the screenwriters of Independence Day and Babylon 5. Giant alien ships hover over the world's largest capitals. Representatives of another world - the Super-Rulers - are forcing earthlings to make a deal: from now on they will take care of the prosperity of humanity in exchange for a ban on space exploration... What will happen to humanity that has abandoned its desire for space? And will it be able to do this?