The War of The Worlds (World War)

Author: H.G. Wells
Publisher: Aerie
Publication Date: 2005-06-01
Features: HERBERT GEORGE WELLS was born on September 21, 1866, in Bromley, England, the fourth son of Joseph Wells, a shopkeeper and professional cricketer, and his wife, Sarah Neal, a housekeeper at a nearby estate. Wells's early life was shaped by two accidents. When Wells broke his leg at the age of eight, he discovered the joys of reading during his recovery. When his father also broke his leg, he could no longer play cricket professionally, and the family finances suffered. Wells and his brothers took apprenticeships with a local draper. In 1883, Wells was fired from his apprenticeship. Not displeased about the change, he became a teacher and pupil at Midhurst Grammar School and eventually won a scholarship to the Normal School and a scholarship to the Normal School of Science in London. There he studied under T.H. Huxley, excelling in biology and physics, but failing in geology. He left the school in 1887. At loose ends, Wells lived for a while with his aunt, where he began a relationship with his cousin-in-law Isabel, whom he married in 1891. She taught for several years and earned his Bachelor of Science degree in 1880. His marriage to Isabel did not last long, and in 1895 he married one of his correspondence school students, Amy Catherine, with whom he had two sons. Linked with several other women in his later years, Wells also fathered children outside of marriage. In 1893, Wells began writing full-time. He combined a passion for social reform with a successful career writing "scientific romances," including The Time Machine (1895), The Theory of Moreau (1896), The Invisible Man (1897), The War of the Worlds (1898), The First Men in the Moon (1901), and The War in the Air (1908). Many of his fictional predictions came true, notably the use of the atomic bomb. Wells struggled to balance his hope for human advancement through technology with his pessimism regarding human nature. His first bestseller, Anticipations (1901), predicted the more liberating cultural mores of the twentieth century, a growing dependence on cars and trains, and the rise of the suburbs. Some of his books, such as The Shape of Things to Come (1933), reflect his hope for utopian change in the world, while others, such as his final book, Mind at the End of Its Journey (1945), reflect his despair. After living in France, Wells returned to London in his later years and refused to leave during the Blitz in World War II. He died in London of cancer on April 13, 1946.