Rob Hansen's serial history of Science Fiction Fandom in the UK since 1930 is now available online. Starting out in the mid-1980s as an article initially intended for an SF convention programme book, it first saw print as a special publication for the CONSPIRACY '87 fanroom titled 'The Story So Far'. With subsequent further research and writing the history grew and grew until it now weighs in at around 170,000 words. Called THEN, it was originally published in four parts and is stored online in the same form. A brief teaser for each appears below. The fifth and final section of THEN, covering the 1980s was barely started and never completed. In its place is the section of 'The Story So Far' covering that decade, though this is of course very different in scope to the material in THEN. It should be noted that this is very much a work in progress. Comments and corrections are welcomed. Click on the link at the bottom of this page to access the history.

THEN #1 (the 1930s and 1940s): the mystery of the first fan group the story of the first ever SF convention how British fandom survived during WWII the secret of the Futurians	THEN #2 (the 1950s): a tale of two BSFAs the London-Manchester war the birth of TAFF and OMPA the woman who wasn't
THEN #3 (the 1960s): the rise of the BSFA PADS,OMPA, & IPSO the New Wave the fan the Beatles wrote for	THEN #4 (the 1970s): the death & rebirth of the BSFA Silly Animal fandom the Boak-Nova affair the rise of the 'Kill-the-Fuckers' reviewer
UK FANDOM: (the 1980s): the rise of the Apas the return of the 1950s fans the TAFF Wars	The Early 80s The Mid 80s