China invades the United States to restore US capitalism in the year 2020 in this dystopian 1890 sequel to Edward Bellamy's 1888 novel Looking Backward. Vinton's novel is written as a series of lectures delivered at Shawmut College (Boston, Mass., USA) in the year 2023 by a Chinese historian who took charge as chief of the history department after the occupation of the socialized United States by capitalist China.Bellamy's novel described a utopian re-organization of the United States where by the year 2000 every aspect of the economy was owned and controlled by the government, which was termed "Nationalism" to avoid the stigma of the term "socialism". Bellamy's best-selling novel spawned 160 Nationalist Clubs in the United States, and a Nationalist political movement in the late 19th century. It also inspired many novels critical of Bellamy's premises, such as this one.