The third and final book in the Galactic Empire series, the spectacular precursor to the classic Foundation series, by one of history&;s most influential writers of science fiction, Isaac Asimov After years of bitter struggle, Trantor had at last completed its work&;its Galactic Empire ruled all 200 million planets of the Galaxy . . . all but one. On a backward planet called Earth were those who nurtured bitter dreams of a mythical, half-remembered past when the planet was humanity&;s only home. The other worlds despised it or merely patronized it&;until a man from the past miraculously stepped through a time fault that spanned a millennium, living proof of Earth&;s most preposterous claims.Joseph Schwartz was a happily retired Chicago tailor circa 1949. Trapped in an incredible future he could barely comprehend, the unlikely time traveler would soon become a pawn in a desperate conspiracy to bring down the Empire in a twist of agony and death&;a mad plan to restore Earth&;s tarnished glory by ending human life on every other world.