I was 12 years old in 1988 and, that year, I spent most of my savings on a large format hardcover book where the authors attempted to tell the story of mankind's expansion in the universe.
They did that by taking characters, settings, technologies and plot devices from famous novels or pulps and juxtapose it with more or less random cover art. The result was extremelly well put together and -- at least to my young mind -- very convincing.
Needless to say, this book has been a kind of gateway drug for me.
Unfortunately, I lost this book about 15 years ago. I have no idea who were the author(s) or the editor(s).
Here is what I remember:
- the book was written in French but I kind of remember that it was translated from the American
- the book measured about 30 cm x 40 cm
- it had one of those removable jacket that I lost quickly so I have no idea what it looked like
- the actual covers were blue-gray and off-white and represented a two tone space scene with no title
- all the art was in full colour
- most of the art came from sci-fi books but there was also Conan-type fantasy when they needed to illustrate a planet returned to barbary or whatever
That's it.
Do you know this book?