H Beam Piper

John W. Campbell was a man who really knew what makes SF the appealing thing it is; it's no wonder that he published the story. Also included in this volume are "The Mercenaries" (Astounding Science Fiction, March, 1950), "He Walked Around the Horses" (Astounding Science Fiction, April 1948), "The Return" (Astounding Science Fiction, January, 1954 -- a collaboration with John J. McGuire), and "Temple Trouble" (Astounding Science Fiction, April, 1951).

"ZNIDD SUDDABIT "So the Ulleran challenge begins, with the rantings of a prophet and a seemingly incidental street riot. Only when a dose of poison lands in the governor-general's whiskey does it become clear that the "geeks" have had it up to their double-lidded eyeballs with the imperialist Terran Federation's Chartered Uller Company. Then, overnight, war is everywhere. How it will end is in the (merely) two Terran hands of the new governor-general, a man shrewd enough to know that "it is easier to banish a habit of thought than a piece of knowledge." The problem is, the particular piece of knowledge he needs hasn't been used in 450 years. . . .