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Fiction Literary

The War of the Worlds

by (author) H.G. Wells

edited by Martin A. Danahay

Publisher
Broadview Press
Initial publish date
Mar 2003
Category
Literary, General
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9781551113531
    Publish Date
    Mar 2003
    List Price
    $16.75

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Description

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.

About the authors

Herbert George Wells (21 September 1866 – 13 August 1946) was an English author, best known for his work in the science fiction genre. He was also a prolific writer in many genres, including contemporary novels, history, politics and social commentary. Together with Jules Verne, Wells has been referred to as "The Father of Science Fiction". Wells was an outspoken socialist and very sympathetic to technocracy and pacifist views, although he supported the First World War once it was under way, and his later works became increasingly political and didactic.

H.G. Wells' profile page

Martin A. Danahay's profile page

Editorial Reviews

“Martin Danahay’s edition shows the extent to which The War of the Worlds draws on the biological and astronomical theories, political ideologies, and military technology of its time. Readers who want to appreciate this greatest of all alien narratives in its original Victorian context cannot do better than to consult this edition.” — Patrick Parrinder, University of Reading

“One reads this edition with great pleasure. The novel is lightly and intelligently annotated, making concise sense of all the local allusions that make this remarkable fantasy so realistic. The appendices, which reprint portions of articles from the 1890s, suggest an intellectual context for the work and are often interesting in themselves, especially Percival Lowell’s meditation on how some form of life might develop on Mars. The pictures of the various guns, cannons, ships, and other machinery mentioned in the novel give a wonderful sense of the scale of the war.” — John Huntington, University of Illinois at Chicago