And Having Writ

''And Having Writ...'' is a 1978 science fiction/alternate history novel by American writer Donald R. Bensen. Nominated for the 1979 John W. Campbell Award, it tells the story of aliens who crash-land on Earth in 1908 and then journey around the planet, trying to jump-start World War I. Even though they fail to do this, they succeed in creating the circumstances for their ultimate departure from Earth after a period of suspended animation.

Plot summary

According to the novel, the Siberian explosion was originally caused by the crash landing of the spacecraft named ''The Wanderer''. In this alternate reality, however, the alien astronauts are able to commandeer their failing vessel so that it lands in the Pacific Ocean, just outside San Francisco.

Shortly after landing, the quartet of spacemen are rescued from the sea by an American ship and taken to California. ''The Wanderer'' sinks into the ocean, and the team reasons that they must find a way to accelerate Earth's technological advances so that they can get back home. The eventual conclusion at which they arrive is that they must provoke the planet into what Ari claims is an inevitable global conflict, one that will (through weaponry innovations) result in a boom of new science and industry.

Characters

The astronauts and their roles

The four astronauts never identify their home world, merely saying that they are a team of Explorers sent to gather information about foreign planets.

* Raf: The main character of the book, Raf tells the story in first person. He is a Recorder, and is responsible for ensuring that every detail of the expedition is written down. Raf is quite detached in his observations and seems to be fairly optimistic. While on Earth, he develops a strong taste for alcoholic beverages.
* Ari: Ari is a Metahistorian, which seems to signify a study of universal historical trends among people of different galaxies and solar systems. His has a tendency to be very long-winded and often clashes with Dark.
* Valmis: Valmis is an Integrator. This is a rather obscure occupation that somehow involves interpreting the "Patterns" of the universe, of civilizations, of individual people, of anything and everything. Valmis is very mystical and often frustrates his crew-mates, particularly Dark.
* Dark: Dark is the Captain of ''The Wanderer'' and as such is an expert in all things mechanical. He is practical to a fault and is ceaselessly annoyed by what he sees as the meaningless ramblings of Valmis and Ari.

Historical characters

The astronauts interact with a number of important global personages during their stay on Earth.

* Theodore Roosevelt: In the book, Theodore Roosevelt becomes the 26th President of the United States in 1901 after William McKinley is assassinated. He is elected to a full term in 1904. He is elected as the 28th President in 1912 and reelected in 1916 and serves until 1921. Roosevelt was the first major world leader with whom the spacemen acquaint themselves, and acts as a benevolent and friendly presence. In the book, he is quoted as saying that if he could only take back his promise not to run for reelection in 1908, he would cut off his right hand.
“If I hadn’t promised not to run again...by George, I’d cut my hand off to here!”
Roosevelt helps the aliens to escape house arrest in New York in 1909. In 1925, while he is attending a demonstration of an experimental moon rocket, Roosevelt is killed when the device's engines explode and destroy the platform he was on.
* J.P. Morgan: Mr. Morgan, the industrial titan of the Gilded Age, makes a brief appearance at the very beginning of the book, in 1908. He is concerned that the revelation that aliens exist will turn the U.S. financial markets asunder, and he works with President Roosevelt through the U.S. Treasury Department to ensure that the economy is unshaken by the news.
*William Howard Taft: Secretary of War William Howard Taft, who in reality served as the 27th President from 1909 to 1913 and then became a Supreme Court Justice, appears very briefly at the beginning of the book. His one and only cameo comes in 1908, when he and Theodore Roosevelt are discussing the effects that the presence of extraterrestrials could have on the election. He is asked by the Republican National Committee to relinquish their nomination for President, news that overjoys President Roosevelt, who assumes that he will be the new nominee. It is Taft who delivers the startling news that the Committee plans to nominate Thomas Alva Edison.
* Thomas Alva Edison: In the book, Thomas Edison also arrives at the White House in 1908, chiefly to interview the aliens and learn about their technology, which fascinates him. The aliens are able to create an effective hearing aid for Edison to help him with his poor hearing. When word of the spacemen goes public, the Republican Party bounces William Howard Taft as their 1908 nominee, reasoning that only a man as brilliant as Edison would be able to steer America through such incredible new times.
In 1909, Edison has the aliens placed under house arrest in New York so that he can pry technological secrets from them. They escape (thanks to former president Roosevelt), however, and head to Europe, and Edison is obliged to dispatch Marines to go after them. When he finally has them in his clutches again, President Edison realizes that the amount of technology the aliens possess would, if widely distributed, cause widespread upheaval.
"Nearly free power for everyone, available tomorrow, ain’t that grand? No need to buy coal, gasoline, oil, wood, anything like that. And no need to pay the coal miners, oil people, filling stations, anybody like that. I calculate it’d take about six weeks for the country to turn into a howling wilderness of starving mobs...We’re an industrious and inventive people, and I don’t see any easy gifts you could let us have be worth losing that."
In 1912, Edison decides not to run for reelection, and rather goes back to inventing.
* H. G. Wells

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