With the Night Mail and As Easy as A. B. C.

Rudyard Kipling's thrilling science fiction novella follows the exploits of an intercontinental mail dirigible battling foul weather. Meanwhile, a planet-wide Aerial Board of Control enforces a rigid system of command and control in the skies and in world affairs, too. In Kipling's 1912 follow-up story, "As Easy As A. B. C.," set sixty-five years after "With the Night Mail," the Aerial Board has complete control over the social and economic affairs of every nation. When a mob of disgruntled "serviles" in the district of northern Illinois demands the return of democracy, the A. B. C. sends a team of troubleshooters and a fleet of two hundred zeppelins to "take such steps as might be necessary for the resumption of traffic and all that that implies."