When William Came

The great irony of Saki's 1913 novel is that it imagines Germany conquering England four years before the actual Great War made such fantasies seem almost quaint. Written at the height of Edwardian jitters about German militarism, 'When William Came' presents a Britain that has fallen to Kaiser Wilhelm's forces, and follows the sardonic narrator as he returns to find his homeland transformed into something between a police state and a vast Teutonic country club. The novel operates on two levels: as a gripping tale of occupied London, where German officers take the best tables at restaurants and the aristocracy scrambles to adapt, and as a sharp satirical portrait of British complacency. Saki, whose short stories gleefully punctures pomposity, turns his wit toward the question of what the British character would do if its empire were merely a memory. The result is both a compelling period piece and a surprisingly darkly comic vision of English society trying to maintain its dignity under foreign rule. It endures as a fascinating glimpse into how Edwardians imagined their future, and as a showcase for Saki's distinctive voice: clever, cruel, and always watching for the absurd.