Hollis Godfrey 
The Man Who Ended War 

The Secretary of War of the United States receives a letter sent to his and all other nations, declaring that war has too long devastated the earth and the time has come for peace. It orders them to destroy their weapons of warfare and disband their militaries. The letter ends: ‘One year from this date will I allow for disarmament and no more. At the end of that time, if no heed has been paid to my injunction, I will destroy, in rapid succession, every battleship in the world. By the happenings of the next two months you shall know that my words are the words of truth.’ It is signed ‘The man who will stop all war.’

The government officials at first dismiss this as a letter from a crank. Then a few battleships vanish, one per week, without a trace. What new technology enables this man to carry out his threat? Can he be found and stopped? Will the major powers of the world agree to disarm or will they blame each other and start a war?

Recipe: Take an American investigative reporter, add his science professor friend and the professor’s beautiful intelligent sister, throw in some early 20th century quasi-science, some romantic longing, some detective work in London, and a good measure of suspense.

About the author

Hollis Godfrey was an author, teacher, engineering consultant, and president of the Drexel Institute of Art, Science and Industry.

While employed at the School of Practical Arts in Boston, Godfrey published several literary works. These works include the ‘ingenious scientific novel’ The Man Who Ended War in 1908 [quoted from review in ‘The Week’s News of Boston Books’, The New York Times. October 24, 1908].

Godfrey was educated at Tufts College and Harvard University, receiving degrees in Engineering. He went on to earn his Ph.D. in Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1889. After graduation Godfrey stayed on to teach at his Alma Mater, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. From 1906 to 1910 Godfrey was the administrator of scientific studies at the Girl’s High School of Practical Arts in Boston.

In 1916, during his tenure at Drexel, Godfrey was selected by President Woodrow Wilson to be an advisory member for the Council of National Defense, an organization formed to coordinate resources and industry for national security. Godfrey served in that capacity, advising in the area of engineering and education, from 1916 to 1918. In his last year at Drexel, he established the Council of Management Education in Boston in March 1920. Following his resignation at Drexel, he became chairman of the council. He later went on to be president of the Engineering-Economics Foundation. He died on January 17, 1936.