An inspiration to writers such as Orwell and Vonnegut, this is one of the great anti-utopian satires of the twentieth century and is now regarded as a modern classic. Man discovers a species of giant, intelligent newts and learns to exploit them so successfully that they gain enough skills and arms to challenge man's place at the top of the animal kingdom. 'God bless Catbird Press for calling the attention to a great writer of the past who speaks to the present in a voice brilliant, clear, honorable, blackly funny and prophetic.' - Kurt Vonnegut