The book tells the story of humanity's repeated attempts to colonise the red planet. The first men were few. Most succumbed to a disease they called the Great Loneliness when they saw their home planet dwindle to the size of a fist. Those few that survived found no welcome on Mars. But more rockets arrived from Earth, and more. People brought their old prejudices with them - and their desires and fantasies, tainted dreams. These strange and wonderful tales of man's experiences on Mars are filled with intense images and astonishing visions. As much a work of social criticism as of science fiction, 'The Martian Chronicles' is an allegory for the tragic moral blindness of mankind, told in wonderfully evocative prose.