The Battle of Dorking marks the start of the genre of invasion literature in the late 1800s and prior to the Great War. The story was followed by many others with a similar theme, the more notable works including The Great War in England in 1897 by William Le Queux in 1894, H.G. Wells’ War of the Worlds in 1897, and Erskine Childers’ 1903 novel The Riddle of the Sands. There were hundreds of stories, published by a wide range of authors. Many used rapid technology change as ideas or themes for their stories.
Chesney's book refers to “Outlanders” rather than explicitly mentioning Prussians as the invaders who land on the coast at Worthing, the Royal Navy having been destroyed by “fatal engines”. They march on London and are obstructed by the British when trying
