The Unathorised History Of Trek

Before Star Trek became a vast commercial federation of television series, films, novels, conventions, toys and mugs that reveal the starship Enterprise when filled with tea, it was an uncertain 1960s television project repeatedly threatened with cancellation. Its eventual conquest of popular culture was less a five-year mission than a prolonged administrative accident supported by unusually determined viewers.

In The Unauthorised History of Trek, James Van Hise traces the series from Gene Roddenberry’s original conception through the rejected first pilot, the arrival of Captain Kirk and the three-season run of the original programme. It follows the writers, actors, designers and producers who constructed a convincing twenty-third century inside a television studio possessing distinctly twentieth-century budgets.

The book looks behind familiar episodes at the compromises and improvisations involved in making them. Sets were reused, props acquired new functions and alien worlds frequently occupied the same patch of Californian landscape. The Federation may have possessed faster-than-light travel, but the production department still had to finish filming by Friday.

Van Hise examines the casting of William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley and the rest of the Enterprise crew, along with the tensions and creative disputes that accompanied the series. Spock’s pointed ears, initially regarded as a potential embarrassment by nervous executives, became one of television’s most recognisable features. This was an important victory for Vulcan representation and the theatrical adhesive industry.

The story continues through cancellation, syndication and the extraordinary growth of fandom that brought Star Trek back from the dead. Fans organised conventions, wrote letters and kept the programme in circulation until the television failure became a profitable cultural phenomenon. Network executives eventually discovered that an audience does not cease to exist merely because it has been officially informed that its favourite programme is over.

The animated series, the feature films and Star Trek: The Next Generation are also covered, showing how the original Enterprise developed into a continuing universe. Each revival required its creators to preserve the ideals of exploration, tolerance and cooperation while negotiating contracts, budgets and the question of whether another Klingon forehead redesign was strictly necessary.

Alongside the history, the book includes little-known production stories, legendary incidents and a season-by-season episode checklist. It is both narrative and reference guide, suitable for reading straight through or consulting after suddenly needing to establish which episode involved duplicate Kirks, space hippies or a highly emotional silicon-based life form.

The history is “unauthorised,” meaning it was not prepared, approved or endorsed by the companies responsible for the series. This gives Van Hise room to discuss the disagreements, miscalculations and backstage complications that an official account might transport quietly to a penal colony. It also means no Starfleet representative has certified the contents for historical accuracy in the twenty-third century.

Published by Voyager in 1997, the book captures Star Trek after thirty years of expansion, when it had already become one of the most durable creations in science fiction but had not yet accumulated several further decades of prequels, reboots and alternative timelines. It is therefore a history of Trek from the relatively simple era when keeping track of the franchise did not yet require a dedicated computer core.

This copy is in Good condition. It shows the normal evidence of previous missions but remains sound, complete and ready for another five-year voyage through production history. No tribbles have been found in the spine, although purchasers should continue monitoring the situation.

Sold by Crappy Old Books, an unauthorised retailer operating outside Federation space. Payment in gold-pressed latinum is regrettably not supported.

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