intended the novel's Calhoun, who, after going insane, believes the false religion created by the Americans, as a parody of Campbell himself. The bulk of Heinlein's work on the novel, e.g. the explanations of the weapons’ effectiveness and the strategy for the Americans' rebellion, is not present in "All". Reception Boucher and McComas found the novel to be "a fine example of serious pulp science fiction." P. Schuyler Miller compared Sixth Column to "the old E. Phillips Oppenheim or modern Eric Ambler intrigue, thrust and counterthrust with civilization at stake." Portrayal of racism The book was serialized in early 1941, at a time that the Second Sino-Japanese War was in its fourth year and large parts of China had been occupied in brutal fashion by the Japanese. The book is notable for its frank portrayal of racism on both sides. The conquerors regard themselves as a chosen people predestined to rule over lesser races, and they refer to white people as slaves. "Three things only do slaves require: work, food, and their religion." They demand outward signs of respect, such as jumping promptly into the gutter when a member of the chosen race walks by, and the slightest hesitation to show the prescribed courtesies earns a swagger stick across the face. One character is Frank Mitsui, an Asian American whose family was murdered by the invaders because they did not fit in the new PanAsiatic racial order. The Americans in the novel respond to their conquerors' racism by often referring to them in unflattering terms, such as "flat face" and "slanty". Sixth Column and Farnham's Freehold, another novel by Heinlein, both center on the issue of race. See also Invasion literature References External links Sixth Column parts one, two, and three on the Internet Archive 1949 American novels 1949 science fiction novels Novels by Robert A. Heinlein Post-apocalyptic novels Novels first published in serial form Works originally published in Analog Science Fiction and Fact Novels set in Colorado Gnome Press books