This is the first volume in the series of novels Doris Lessing
calls collectively "Canopus in Argos: Archives." Presented as a
compilation of documents, reports, letters, speeches and journal
entries, this purports to be a general study of the planet
Shikasta-clearly the planet Earth-to be used by history students of
the higher planet Canopus and to be stored in the Canopian
archives. For eons, galactic empires have struggled against one
another, and Shikasta is one of the main battlegrounds. Johar, an
emissary from Canopus and the primary contributor to the archives,
visits Shikasta over the millennia from the time of the giants and
the biblical great flood up to the present. With every visit he
tries to distract Shikastans from the evil influences of the planet
Shammat but notes with dismay the ever-growing chaos and
destruction of Shikasta as its people hurl themselves towards World
War III and annihilation.