Poor Devil! is a satirical fantasy about how the Devil's power is undermined by modern rationalism. Burdekin published her best-known novel, Swastika Night (1937), as Murray Constantine. Reflecting Burdekin's analysis of the masculine element in fascist ideology, Swastika Night depicts a world divided between two militaristic powers: the Nazis and Japan. Burdekin anticipated the Holocaust and understood the dangers presented by a militarised Japan while most people in her society were still supporting a policy of appeasement. A pacifist committed to communist ideals, Burdekin abandoned pacifism in 1938 out of the conviction that fascism had to be fought. Burdekin had a period of depression in 1938. Her friend Margaret L. Goldsmith tried to assist by giving her research material on Marie Antoinette. The outcome was a historical novel, Venus in Scorpio, co-authored by Goldsmith and Burdekin (as 'Murray Constantine'). She wrote six further novels after World War II, none of which were published in her lifetime. These novels reflect her feminist commitments that became increasingly spiritual. Her unpublished manuscript, The End of This Day's Business, was published by The Feminist Press in New York in 1989; it is a counterpart to Swastika Night and envisions a distant future in which women rule and men are deprived of all power. This vision was also subjected to Burdekin's critique; she had little patience with what she called "reversals of privilege" and aspired to a future in which domination itself would finally be overcome. She wrote several children's books, including The Children's Country (titled St John's Eve before it was published in America) about a boy and girl who enter a magical world where children are more powerful than adults. Burdekin died in 1963. With the growing interest in women's utopian fiction in the last few decades, her work has been the object of considerable scholarly attention. Most early information about her came from Daphne Patai's research. Bibliography References Sources BookRags Dictionary of Literary Biography, Volume 225, British Fantasy and Science-Fiction Writers, 1918–1960 (edited by Darren Harris-Fain, 2002). External links Literary Encyclopedia entry on Katherine Burdekin Works by Murray Constantine at Merril Collection of Science Fiction, Speculation & Fantasy (Toronto Public Library) 1896 births 1963 deaths People educated at Cheltenham Ladies' College British science fiction writers English women novelists English feminists English science fiction writers English fantasy writers English feminist writers English anti-fascists English socialist feminists British women short story writers Women science