The original interplanetary swashbuckler: John Carter is a fighting man of Earth (or is he?) transported suddenly to the surface of a strange planet full of fierce green giants, savage white apes, and noble but warlike humans—including the one he loves. But can he save her from the doom that threatens to destroy the entire planet? In a little over 100 years, the Martian tales of Edgar Rice Burroughs have changed the literary world, launching science fiction as a literary category and inspiring generations of young readers to spin their own wildly imaginative tales of distant planets and strange civilizations. This collection, gracefully and unobtrusively annotated, comprises the first three books of the series, which combine as a trilogy to tell the story of Captain Jack Carter's adventures among the many strange civilizations of a dying planet.