H. G. (Herbert George) Wells

English novelist, historian and science writer Herbert George Wells (1866-1946) abandoned teaching and launched his literary career with a series of highly successful science-fiction novels. The Time Machine was the first of a number of these imaginative literary inventions. First published in 1895, the novel follows the adventures of a hypothetical Time Traveller who journeys into the future to find that humanity has evolved into two races: the peaceful...

In The Island of Dr. Moreau a shipwrecked gentleman named Edward Prendick, stranded on a Pacific island lorded over by the notorious Dr. Moreau, confronts dark secrets, strange creatures, and a reason to run for his life. While this riveting tale was intended to be a commentary on evolution, divine creation, and the tension between human nature and culture, modern readers familiar with genetic engineering will marvel at Wells's prediction of the...

Although best known for his scientific romances that paved the way for the modern science fiction genre, H. G. Wells (1866-1946) produced significant works on politics, society, science and history. Thanks in part to his teacher, T. H. Huxley, Wells became quite interested in the works of scientists like Charles Darwin, and admired their ability to imagine and think beyond their times. When writing his 1905 novel, "A Modern Utopia", Wells drew upon...

There's a heavy price to pay for the manipulation of nature in this novel from the revered author of The War of the Worlds and The Time Machine. It begins as a boon for mankind-the creation of the substance Herakleophorbia IV. When fed to farm animals, it causes them to grow to enormous size. But when it is accidentally allowed to enter the local food chain, the consequences prove monstrous: Human children exposed to it grow into giants, reaching...

Perhaps all religions, unless the flaming onset of Mohammedanism be an exception, have dawned imperceptibly upon the world. A little while ago and the thing was not, and then suddenly it has been found in existence, and already in a state of diffusion. People have begun to hear of the new belief first here and then there. It is interesting, for example, to trace how Christianity drifted into the consciousness of the Roman world. But when a religion...

In this chilling science fiction novel by H.G. Wells, rich and powerful men wage the ultimate war "to end all wars". Published in 1914, The World Set Free was ahead of its time, telling the story of how newly-acquired nuclear weapons led to warfare between nations. In the book, Wells explores how social and moral dilemmas can result in self-destruction and chaos before eventually leading to solutions that create a unique utopia. Even today, this...

Modern warfare takes to the skies in this novel by a master of science fiction and fantasy. In 1907, young Bert Smallways, a brilliant mechanist and accidental aeronaut, finds himself a reluctant stowaway upon the very same airship that will begin the Great War. Soon, Smallways is swept away aboard the Vaterland, the flagship piloted by a belligerent German prince, whose mastery of technology heralds a new age of war that takes to the sky. Filled...

'The Passionate Friends' is a novel by seminal English author H. G. Wells. The recent death of Stephen Stratton's father and his lack of a legacy of any sort has motivated Stephen to write a detailed letter to his son outlining his ideas, philosophies, beliefs, motivations, and - most importantly - his relationship with the aristocrat Lady Mary, a woman separated from him by class and money. A timeless love story, 'The Passionate Friends' is highly...

"Mankind in the Making" is a sequel to H. G. Wells' "Anticipations" (1901). Within it, he analyses the 'making' of man, exploring the circumstances and processes that change children into citizens of the modern world. He aggressively attacks a range of contemporary institutions and presents a new doctrine termed "New Republicanism", which analyses things by their effect on the development and evolution of mankind. Contents include: "The New Republic",...

The maid was a young woman of great natural calmness; she was accustomed to let in visitors who had this air of being annoyed and finding one umbrella too numerous for them. It mattered nothing to her that the gentleman was asking for Dr. Martineau as if he was asking for something with an unpleasant taste. Almost imperceptibly she relieved him of his umbrella and juggled his hat and coat on to a massive mahogany stand. "What name, Sir?" she asked,...