H. G. Wells

Following the development of massive airships, naïve Londoner Bert Smallways becomes accidentally involved in a German plot to invade America by air and reduce New York to rubble. But although bombers devastate the city, they cannot overwhelm the country, and their attack leads not to victory but to the beginning of a new and horrific age for humanity. And so dawns the era of Total War, in which brutal aerial bombardments reduce the great cultures of the twentieth century to nothing. As civilization collapses around the Englishman, now stranded in a ruined America, he clings to only one hope - that he might return to London, and marry the woman he loves.

While walking in the Swiss Alps, two English travellers fall into a space-warp, and suddenly find themselves in another world. In many ways the same as our own - even down to the characters that inhabit it - this new planet is still somehow radically different, for the two walkers are now upon a Utopian Earth controlled by a single World Government. Here, as they soon learn, all share a common language, there is sexual, economic and racial equality, and society is ruled by socialist ideals enforced by an austere, voluntary elite: the 'Samurai'. But what will the Utopians make of these new visitors from a less perfect world?

Mr Polly is an ordinary middle-aged man who is tired of his wife's nagging and his dreary job as the owner of a regional gentleman's outfitters. Faced with the threat of bankruptcy, he concludes that the only way to escape his frustrating existence is by burning his shop to the ground, and killing himself. Unexpected events, however, conspire at the last moment to lead the bewildered Mr Polly to a bright new future - after he saves a life, fakes his death, and escapes to a life of heroism, hope and ultimate happiness.

Presented as a miraculous cure-all, Tono-Bungay is in fact nothing other than a pleasant-tasting liquid with no positive effects. Nonetheless, when the young George Ponderevo is employed by his Uncle Edward to help market this ineffective medicine, he finds his life overwhelmed by its sudden success. Soon, the worthless substance is turned into a formidable fortune, as society becomes convinced of the merits of Tono-Bungay through a combination of skilled advertising and public credulity. As the newly rich George discovers, however, there is far more to class in England than merely the possession of wealth.

A small group of scientists comes up with a plan to reach the Moon, only to discover that Earth's supposedly barren satellite is inhabited by a thriving community of insects, in an edition that includes an authoritative text, full biographical essay on the author, suggestions for further reading, and detailed notes. Reprint.

A troubled insomniac in 1890s England falls suddenly into a sleep- like trance, from which he does not awake for over two hundred years. During his centuries of slumber, however, investments are made that make him the richest and most powerful man on Earth.

H. G. Wells's The War of the Worlds, the first story to speculate about the consequences of aliens (from Mars) with superior technology landing on earth, is one of the most influential science fiction books ever written. The novel is both a thrilling narrative and an elaboration of Wells's socio-political thought on the subjects of imperialism, humankind's treatment of other animals, and unquestioning faith in military technology and the continuation of the human species. This edition's appendices include other related writings by Wells; selected correspondence; contemporary reviews; excerpts from works that influenced the novel and from contemporary invasion narratives; and photographs of examples of Victorian military technology.

Introduction by Arthur C. ClarkeCommentary by Jules Verne and an anonymous reviewer from The Critic"No one would have believed in the last years of the nineteenth century that this world was being watched keenly and closely by intelligences greater than man's and yet as mortal as his own." Thus begins one of the most terrifying and morally prescient science fiction novels ever penned. Beginning with a series of strange flashes in the distant night sky, the Martian attack initially causes little concern on Earth. Then the destruction erupts--ten massive aliens roam England and destroy with heat rays everything in their path. Very soon humankind finds itself on the brink of extinction. H. G. Wells raises questions of mortality, man's place in nature, and the evil lurking in the technological future--questions that remain urgently relevant in the twenty-first century. Includes a Modern Library Reading Group Guide

H. G. Wells, nach und mit Jules Verne Vater und Meister der Science-fiction und Weltfriedensphilosoph, hat Erzählungen von beispielhafter utopischer Dichte und Hellsicht geschrieben. In den phantastischen Dimensionen der Zukunft und der Vergangenheit ist das Alltägliche vom Wunderbaren nicht zu trennen. Wells entführt die Leser in atemberaubende neue Welten.

Wells was interested in the implications of evolutionary theory on the future of human beings at the biological, sociological, and cultural levels, and The Time Machine, short and readable, draws on many of the social and scientific debates of the time. The Broadview edition of this science fiction classic includes extensive materials on Wells's scientific and political influences.

An English astronomer, in company with an artilleryman, a country curate, and others struggle to survive the invasion of Earth by Martians in 1894

This is a book for the average person with a great curiosity toward the world. H. G. Wells had an intense curiosity and used it to investigate and then share the entire history of the world in a condensed form with this book. Wells, the great science fiction writer who wrote The War of the Worlds and The Invisible Man, among others, was fascinated with the real world just as much as his imaginary ones. This book is a testament to his genius and immense knowledge involving the key events of humanity throughout the history of the world. It is true that much was left out, but Wells covers the high points so that one can follow the more important paths of history as we learned, grew, and reached deeper understandings throughout our physical, intellectual, and spiritual evolution. The great thing about this book is that it allows us to see a bigger picture. An overall pattern emerges that one can only grasp by reading and experiencing the book fully. Wells was considered a genius and clearly wrote with this larger vision in mind. Upon completing the book, he reveals that we, as humanity, are still in our infancy and have only just begun an immense and important journey. The pattern he lays out shows that we are moving toward new ways of understanding, growth, and wisdom. This book should be read by all those who wish to understand more about the world and our place in it.

This collection of H. G. Wells's correspondence draws on over 50 archives and libraries worldwide, including the papers of Wells's daughter by Amber Reeves. The book contains over 2000 letters, both business and personal. Wells's private correspondence includes letters to Winston Churchill.

The Invisible Man is a science fiction novel written by H. G. Wells. This bizarre tale was first serialized in Pearson's Weekly in 1897 and later compiled into a single book. It is a story of a brilliant scientist who has devoted himself to research into optics and invents a way to change a body's refractive index to that of air so that it neither absorbs nor reflects light and thus becomes invisible. Being invisible, then, works against him. His grandiose dream and the power he unleashes causes him to spiral into intrigue, madness and ultimately leads to his death. Based on scientific theories of optics and physics, this story instantly caught the imagination of readers and has been regularly adapted to films and television since it first made its appearance more than a hundred years ago. H. G. Wells was born in England in 1866. He began writing science fiction stories in 1895 with the publication of The Time Machine, where he proposed the concept of selective time travel. The Time Machine was an instant success and Wells produced a series of science fiction novels which pioneered our ideas of the future. His later work focused on satire and social criticism. Wells was an extremely prolific writer and continues to inspire generations of writers even today. In today's world he is best known as "The Father of Science Fiction"

Mad surgeon-turned-vivisectionist performs ghoulish experiments that transform animals into men. Early Wells personification of the scientific quest to control the natural world and, ultimately, human nature.

In this superb little book, written during World War II, historian, sociologist, and novelist H. G. Wells (1866-1946) contemplates the belief systems, prejudices, and institutions that have brought humankind to a dreadful impasse, where it stands at the brink of destruction - or of a new beginning. In his lucid summary of modern ideas concerning the fundamentals and ultimates of existence, Wells points out how absurd and outmoded religious beliefs, marked by intolerance, hatred, and exclusion, have poisoned human beings' relations with the world and each other. These need to be replaced by a new social morality and a heightened sense of humankind's proper place in a dynamic universe.