Southern Cross: A Novel of the South Seas is a stunning wordless novel
told in 118 wood engravings about the atomic bomb testing performed by
the United States in the South Pacific following World War II. This new
hardcover edition is a facsimile of the original edition, published in
1951. Laurence Hyde was infuriated with the United States' continued
testing in the Bikini Atoll, following the mass destruction and
unthinkable horrors resulting from the atomic bombs dropped on
Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945. Hyde's graphic novel involves a
Polynesian island and the islanders' idyllic and secure life that is
forever lost after American sailors arrive and evacuate the islanders
from their homes. During the evacuation, a fisherman kills a sailor who
attempts to rape his wife. The couple flees with their child into the
jungle to avoid capture. After the other islanders have evacuated, the
Americans detonate an atom bomb on the ocean floor. The island
receives the brunt of the bomb's destructive force, which annihilates
all flora and fauna. The fisherman and his family are subjected to
horrific suffering and pain before dying from the resulting blast and
radiation.
Southern Cross includes the original introduction by Rockwell Kent and
two essays by Hyde in which he provides the idea for his book, a
detailed description of the process of wood engraving, and a short
history of the woodcut novel. A new introduction is provided by the
woodcut novel historian David A. Beronä.
