by George England ~
WHEN PEOPLE PAID TO BREATHE! In this science fiction classic from the 1920s, Isaac Flint, a greedy billionaire businessmen plots to extract oxygen from the air and then sell it back to people if they want to live. Through bribes, blackmail and threats, he forces a group of scientists to develop a means of extracting the oxygen and forces politicians to cooperate with his plan. Soon, surrounded by a private army of guards to prevent the outraged populace from stopping him, Flint has "cornered" the oxygen market, and people everywhere have no choice but to pay for the air they breathe - or see themselves and their families die for lack of oxygen. When Gabriel Armstrong, one of the scientists working for Flint, refuses to go along with the billionaire's mad plan, and is joined by Flint's strong-willed daughter, Catherine, the stage is set for a worldwide conflict that almost brings humankind face-to-face with its final doom. "A prophetic epic . controversial," Sam Moskowitz.