[2] It was originally published by Advent in 1969; the members of the World Science Fiction Society voted its author the Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer that year.

[3] NESFA Press produced a new edition (ISBN 1-886778-13-2) with additional photographs, in 2004, after Warner's death.

He later published a sequel, A Wealth of Fable, covering the 1950s, originally produced in a three-volume mimeographed edition, the first volume issued in 1976, and later expanded into hardcover form (ISBN 0-9633099-0-0) by SCIFI Press in 1992.

[4] Algis Budrys praised Warner's work as "that calm, reasoned, and, I suppose, sometimes slightly prejudiced 'fan history' that the microcosm needs as a counterweight" to Sam Moskowitz's earlier The Immortal Storm.

[5] Science fiction fan and author Mike Resnick called the book "a fabulous, informal history, covering all the high points, reporting on (for example) the initial meeting after the war between DAW (Wollheim) and SaM (the man who barred him from the first Worldcon), filled with well over 100 photos, even indexed.