New nonfiction book: A Martian Stranded on Earth: Alexander Bogdanov, Blood Transfusions, and Proletarian Science

Here’s an interesting new nonfiction academic book about Alexander Bogdanov, a Russian fellow who, among many other accomplishments, wrote two early 20th-century science fiction novels set on Mars: A Martian Stranded on Earth: Alexander Bogdanov, Blood Transfusions, and Proletarian Science by Nikolai Krementsov (University of Chicago Press, July 2011). Here’s the formal description:

Much like Vladimir Lenin, his onetime rival for the leadership of the Bolshevik party during its formative years, Alexander Bogdanov (1873–1928) was a visionary. In two science fiction novels set on Mars, Bogdanov imagined a future in which the workers of the world, liberated from capitalist exploitation, create a “physiological collective” that rejuvenates and unites its members through regular blood exchanges. But Bogdanov was not merely a dreamer. He worked tirelessly to popularize and realize his vision, founding the first research institute devoted to the science of blood transfusion.

In A Martian Stranded on Earth, the first broad-based book on Bogdanov in English, Nikolai Krementsov examines Bogdanov’s roles as revolutionary, novelist, and scientist, presenting his protagonist as a coherent thinker who pursued his ideas in a wide range of venues. Through the lens of Bogdanov’s involvement with blood studies on one hand, and of his fictional and philosophical writings on the other, Krementsov offers a nuanced analysis of the interactions between scientific ideas and societal values.

The two Mars novels written by Alexander Bogdanov are Red Star (1908) and Engineer Menni (1913). Hardcore Martian SF&F fans will recall that Red Star is one of Kim Stanley Robinson’s 10 Favorite Mars Novels!