Death ray! Just an absurd idea peddled by con artists and amateur inventors and promoted by a sensationalist press? Not quite. Government leaders, military authorities and even mainstream scientists periodically endorsed the possibility of such a fantastic weapon in the years leading up to the Second World War. A concept born out of research with electricity and other energy sources, the death ray or ""directed energy weapon"" became a widely reported and controversial subject for nearly five decades. Claims for the invention of such a weapon appeared as early as 1876, and increased significantly thereafter, culminating in the ?death-ray craze"" of the 1920s and 1930s. The idea of a directed energy weapon influenced fiction, making its way from newspapers and magazines into novels, short stories, films, theatrical productions and other media. This book takes a first-ever look at the historical death ray and its impact on fiction and popular culture.