This early work by Philip K. Dick was originally published in 1953 and
we are now republishing it with a brand new introductory biography. 'The
Defenders' is a short story about the aftermath of a nuclear war. Philip
Kindred Dick was born on December 16 1928, in Chicago, Illinois. Dick
and his family moved to the Bay Area of San Francisco when he was young,
and later on to Washington DC following his parents divorce. Dick
attended Elementary school and then a Quaker school before the family
moved back to California. It was around this time that Dick began to
take an active interest in the science fiction genre, reading his first
magazine 'Stirring Science Stories', at age twelve. Dick married five
times between 1959 and 1973, and had three children. He sold his first
story in 1951 and from that point on he wrote full-time, selling his
first novel in 1955. In addition to 44 published novels, Dick wrote an
estimated 121 short stories, most of which appeared in science fiction
magazines during his lifetime. In addition to 44 published novels, Dick
wrote an estimated 121 short stories, most of which appeared in science
fiction magazines during his lifetime. After his death, many of his
stories made the transition to the big screen, with blockbuster films
such as Blade Runner, Total Recall and Minority Report being based on
his works.
