This collector-quality edition includes the complete text of the third of Edgar Rice Burroughs' "Martian Novels" in a freshly edited and newly typeset edition, commemorating the 100th anniversary of his first published story. With a generous 6x9 page size, this Summit Classic edition is printed on hefty 60# bright white paper with a fully laminated cover featuring an original full color design. Additional material collected and presented for Burroughs' fans, new or old, are an original retrospective essay commenting on the life, work, and widespread and lasting influence of the author, a new and original biographical sketch of Burroughs' life, and a detailed bibliography of his work. In this, the third of his tales of Barsoom, Burroughs concludes the trilogy that tells the story of the romance between John Carter and Dejah Thoris, who was trapped by the evil false goddess Issus in the Temple of the Sun at the end of "The Gods of Mars." When his enemies flee north, taking Dejah Thoris and two other Martian princesses with them, John Carter pursues all the way to the polar region, discovering bizarre creatures and a hidden race of Martian men. In Edgar Rice Burroughs' trademark style, the former Confederate officer is thrown into a series of non-stop adventures at breakneck pace, finding adversaries on seemingly every page and leading the armies of his allies in battle in this epic adventure that will leave John Carter astride an entire planet as "The Warlord of Mars." "Barsoom" is the native name for the Mars imagined by Edgar Rice Burroughs, a dying world whose oceans have gone dry and whose atmosphere is dissipating, precariously maintained by a massive atmosphere plant, a world where a race of giant green men with four arms roam dry seabeds and vast ancient ruins mounted on reptilian steeds, while a race of coppery-skinned red men maintains an oddly barbaric culture and scientific civilization in sprawling cities and travel in flying cars. If any of this sounds vaguely familiar but you've never read what has over the years become known as Edgar Rice Burroughs' science fiction "Martian series" it's not surprising. Burroughs didn't "invent" planetary romance, lost civilizations, islands populated by dinosaurs and primitive men or any of the kinds of fiction he wrote. But he literally re-invented adventure fiction across the board and his indelible stamp on the work of writers, filmmakers, television producers and scientists is still apparent a hundred years after his first published story. Burroughs is known the world over as the creator of Tarzan, the Ape Man. Tarzan became a cultural phenomenon almost immediately upon his appearance, but before Tarzan there was John Carter of Mars. Burroughs' first published work originally appeared in serial form with the title "Under the Moons of Mars" in 1912. Like many of Burroughs' pulp magazine serials, the story was later published in book form by Chicago publisher A. C. McClurg. The original McClurg version re-titled the story as "A Princess of Mars," the name by which it has been known ever since. Burroughs' first three Martian novels, "A Princess of Mars," "The Gods of Mars" and "Warlord of Mars" form a cohesive trilogy that will ultimately leave the mighty John Carter as the most powerful warlord astride a fantastic, savage planet. Summit Classic Press editions of these three novels are available separately in a handsome matched set. They are also available from Summit Classic Press in a single large format omnibus edition titled "John Carter, Warlord of Mars," ISBN-978-1475021660.