- Published: 20 March 2017
- ISBN: 9781784872113
- Imprint: Vintage Classics
- Format: Paperback
- Pages: 208
- RRP: $27.99
The War of the Worlds











A stunning Vintage Classics edition of the original story of alien invasion from the father of science fiction, H.G. Wells
Read this stunning Vintage Classics edition of the original story of alien invasion from the father of science fiction, H.G. Wells.
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; that as men busied themselves about their various concerns they were scrutinised and studied. Yet across the gulf of space, intellects vast and cool and unsympathetic regarded this earth with envious eyes, and slowly and surely drew their plans against us.
Then, late one night, in the middle of the English countryside, they landed.
- Published: 20 March 2017
- ISBN: 9781784872113
- Imprint: Vintage Classics
- Format: Paperback
- Pages: 208
- RRP: $27.99
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About the author
H. G. Wells, the third son of a small shopkeeper, was born in Bromley in 1866. After two years' apprenticeship in a draper's shop, he became a pupil-teacher at Midhurst Grammar School and won a scholarship to study under T. H. Huxley at the Normal School of Science, South Kensington. He taught biology before becoming a professional writer and journalist. He wrote more than a hundred books, including novels, essays, histories and programmes for world regeneration.
Wells, who rose from obscurity to world fame, had an emotionally and intellectually turbulent life. His prophetic imagination was first displayed in pioneering works of science fiction such as The Time Machine (1895), The Island of Doctor Moreau (1896), The Invisible Man (1897) and The War of the Worlds (1898). Later he became an apostle of socialism, science and progress, whose anticipations of a future world state include The Shape of Things to Come (1933). His controversial views on sexual equality and women's rights were expressed in the novels Ann Veronica (1909) and The New Machiavelli (1911). He was, in Bertrand Russell's words, 'an important liberator of thought and action'.
Wells drew on his own early struggles in many of his best novels, including Love and Mr Lewisham (1900), Kipps (1905), Tono-Bungay (1909) and The History of Mr Polly (1910). His educational works, some written in collaboration, include The Outline of History (1920) and The Science of Life (1930). His Experiment in Autobiography (2 vols., 1934) reviews his world. He died in London in 1946.
Praise for The War of the Worlds
Variously interpreted as a commentary on evolutionary theory, British imperialism and Victorian fears and prejudices, War of the Worlds tells the nail-biting tale of one man's struggle to track down his wife during an alien invasion. Included are some of the most vivid scenes of London in literature
Independent
Sharply satirises the human refusal to look beyond men's petty concerns...wonderfully suggestive
Daily Telegraph
The cosily familiar settings emphasise the horror of the invasion...spookily prescient of the World Wars. Science fiction often dates badly; not so here: hard to believe this was written in 1898
Observer
An astonishing mind and a visionary imagination
Daily Mail
The classic tale of alien invasion, and still the best
The Times