H. G. Wells Books

This book is completely modern, maybe because Wells always seemed to have
one foot in the future and one in the past. He had a good feel for the
scope of history past and history to be made. But it should also be pointed
out what a fine writer and stylist Wells was. The book is beautifully
written. The prose flows. I always loved this about his works of Science
Fiction, the ones most people know about, but it is even more apparent in
this mature work of literature. Read Tono Bungay for the music of his
words, as well as the truth of the emotions, and the intelligence of the
ideas. Like Jules Verne, who also wrote more than his well-known Science
Fiction works, Wells really needs to be re-discovered as a fine general
novelist. Reading Tono Bungay was my first step in that re-discovery.
Now I'm off to read others.

Having read H.G. Wells' classics WAR OF THE WORLDS, THE INVISIBLE MAN, THE FIRST MEN IN THE MOON, THE TIME MACHINE, and THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU, I looked forward to reading what is often claimed to be his "best" work. TONO-BUNGAY is completely different than any of his Sci-Fi classics. TONO-BUNGAY is more of a study of class structure and class struggle in England during the late 1800s and early 1900s. The story follows the life of a young man, George, and his Uncle Edward. Edward invents an elixir called TONO-BUNGAY and hires his nephew George to help build the company. As the book goes George and Edward become quite wealthy. Throughout the book George makes numerous comments on his varying places on the social ladder. It seems that no matter how wealthy George becomes, he will never be accepted in certain circles because he is newly rich and not "old money." The story is well written and is generally easy to follow. I would, however, recomm! end the World's Classics edition of this book (published by Oxford U. Press and available from Amazon.Com) because there are some instances in which Wells makes comments about European literature, art, languages, colleges and phrases that may be of little meaning to the average reader, but for the six pages of end notes provided in the World's Classics edition. The World's Classics edition also claims to be the most accurate edition of the story, taking into account all of Wells' revisions of the story, many of which were made after the book was initially published in 1909 (TONO-BUNGAY was revised by Wells and re-released in 1925).

"Tono-Bungay" is an alleged tonic with dubious medical benefits; and the story is one of the brief fortunes of someone who manages to turn the worthless substance into a formidable fortune - for a while. By the time Wells wrote this novel he had already written books which might or might not be science fiction (witness "The War in the Air") and, all in all, "Ton-Bungay" probably isn't science fiction. But I should mention a substance called "quup" which is introduced towards the end of the book. (I'm not giving anything important away.) "Quup" is the first mention I know of of what we would now call radioactive waste, except that it's naturally occurring, and ... well, perhaps I should be discrete, but I can say that the scenes involving quup have a peculiar flavour which writers would find impossible to capture nowadays.

So you get an excellent double deal with this book: the best of Wells's social fiction of the 1910s, plus a dollop the fresh science fiction he wrote the previous century.

This amazing novel could have been written today, except for the wonderful Edwardian style and language. The story of a rags-to-riches advertising fraud sounds quite the contemporary tone. Edward Ponderevo runs a chemist's shop in the Victorian equivalent of Vic and Sade's Dismal Seepage, Ohio. The idea strikes him to add coloring and flavor to a bottle of junk and market it as a miracle drug, Tono-Bungay. Before long, other quacks jump onto his bandwagon and he rises in society and prestige. Part of Wells' genius lay in foreseeing the future: he has the narrator, poor, "ruined" George, go out on a leaky sailing vessel to west Africa in search of radioactive "quap," some stuff that will turn the world on its head, as indeed uranium did, later. He even describes this "quap" as deriving from pitchblende, as uranium does! He also plays with aeronautical inventions such as gliders and balloons, and our anti-hero ends up designing destroyers for the Royal Navy. The love interest, Beatrice (pace, Dante), is unattainable, not because of the usual Victorian claptrap about class or modesty, but because she's addicted to "chloral," the hypnotic element of knockout drops, chloral hydrate. Some of the love interest may have arisen from Wells' romance with Rebecca West, quite a looker in her younger days; (their affair produced a son, Anthony West, who became an embittered old man hating both his parents).
Wells wrote some great stories: "The Shape of Things to Come," which predicted air warfare although it appeared in 1899, "The War of the Worlds," and my favorite, "The Man Who Could Work Miracles," filmed in 1935 with Roland Young ("Topper") as the innocent barfly who stops time. "Tono-Bungay" is among his finest.
Wells had no use for "the quality," that is, the idle rich who populated England's country houses in the 19th century. "The great houses stand in their parks still, the cottages cluster respectfully on their borders, touching their eaves with their creepers..." At tea, the great lady "acknowledged your poor tinkle of utterance with a voluminous, scornful 'Haw!' that made you want to burn her alive." She had "a small set of stereotyped remarks that constituted her entire mental range." The narrator sat uneasily on a hard chair "trying to exist, like a feeble seedling amidst great rocks." The house had a "great staircase that has never been properly descended since powder went out of fashion." When later he went to live at the home of young Beatrice and invited to play with her, he was "handed over as if I was some large variety of kitten."
George grew up in the 1880s, the era of "The Good Hard-Working Man." A point of honor "was to rise at or before dawn, and then laboriously muddle about." Religion was dispensed in a dingy chapel, "a little brick-built chapel equipped with a spavined roarer of a harmonium." The larger church, "the great pre-Reformation church, [was] a fine grey shell, like some empty skull from which the life has fled."
Uncle Edward is the finest character in the novel: a little fat, ("he'd look lovely with a stopper," chides his wife, who calls him "Old Sossidge"), breathing with audible "Zzzzzz" sounds, he could be found lying on a small wooden fold-up bed, wearing "an elderly but still cheerful pair of check pajamas." His contribution to the world was to be thinking up slogans and fancy adverts for his fake products. The "proper" shops of his day "had been but lightly touched by the American's profaning hand," and they did not cater to people "who in a once fashionable phrase, do not 'exist.'" He would change all that. He raised capital by going to each source in turn and saying the others had come in. Then he conquered England "province by province. Like sogers." "'You can GO for twenty-four hours,' we declared, 'on Tono-Bungay chocolate.' We didn't say whether you could return on the same commodity." His lovable, eccentric wife, Susan, is plain as salt. "She described the knights of the age of chivalry as 'kavorting about on the off-chance of a dragon.'" She offers her nephew a biscuit: "Have some squashed flies, George."
The narrator believes himself to be a "morally limited cad with a mind beyond his merits." He suffers through a long, horrible marriage and separation, and shares in the Tono-Bungay business. His uncle, meanwhile, discovers creative accounting 19th century style: "you wouldn't find the early figures so much wrong as strained." He also discovers what auditors call "y/e" items, year-end transactions. "Each of these companies ended its financial year solvent by selling great holdings of shares to one or other of its sisters, and paying a dividend out of the proceeds..." Nothing has changed in a century. Wells has his narrator comment, "I had some amazing perceptions of just how modern thought and the supply of fact to the general mind may be controlled by money." At the same time he notices the London unemployed, "a shambling, shameful stream they made, oozing along the street, the gutter waste of competitive civilisation." Unlike his uncle, they had not said "Snap" in the right place, or were too eager, or never said it at all. Uncle Edward develops a rich man's style of behavior, he would "Zzzzz" and fiddle with his glasses, and "rise slowly to his toes as a sentence unwound, jerkily like a clockwork snake, and drop back on his heels at the end." He was no longer a little man. He ends his career, like a Donald Trump, in real estate. "It is curious how many of these modern financiers of chance and bluff have ended their careers by building...try to make their fluid opulence coagulate out as bricks and mortar...Then the whole fabric of confidence and imagination totters--and down they come...."
And then comes the discovery of the great heap of quap in West Africa, "floating fragments of slum" available for the stealing. A nearby station is abandoned "because every man who stayed two months at the station stayed to die, eaten up mysteriously like a leper." "The only word that comes near it is cancerous." The sample produced for the narrator was "wrapped about with lead." What did H. G. Wells know? He studied science before becoming a writer, but the effects of radiation were still a mystery after his death, in the late 1940s, when soldiers were ordered into foxholes only 200 yards away from the site of the Nevada atomic test explosions.
Wells writes splendidly and succinctly. His aristocrats sit about in the summer house and in garden chairs, "very hatty and ruffley and sunshady." Croquet is played "with immense gravity." As the nouveau-riche begin to invade the upper levels of society, "with an immense, astonished zest they begin shopping,...a new life crowded and brilliant with things shopped...they talk, think, and dream possessions." They conceal their daughters (one is found wearing "a large gold cross and other aggressive ecclesiastical symbols.") Their chairs are covered with Union Jacks. The love interest in the novel plays the piano: "'Was that Wagner, Beatrice?' asked Lady Osprey, looking up from her cards. 'It sounded very confused.'" Uncle Edward's doctor is "a young man, plumply rococo, in bicycling dress, with fine waxen features, a little pointed beard, and the long black, frizzy hair and huge tie of a minor poet."
George concludes that the royal robes and ermine of English lords conceal the realities of "greedy trade, base profit-seeking, bold advertisement." Kingship and chivalry are dead and buried.
A spectacular find.

Based on the glowing praise from other reviewers, I was expecting something wonderful when I ordered this book. Unfortunately, it fails to deliver.

To be fair, there are two or three essays that give interesting historical or biographical insights into Wells' work. But these little gems hardly make up for all the self-indulgent, aimless, fuzzy writing that fills most of the book. Where was the editor?

Advice: Check this out of a library, or browse through it at a bookstore. It's not worth paying for...

Robert Silverberg, Robert Charles Wilson, Lawrence Watt-Evans, Pamela Sargent, Stephen Baxter, Jack Williamson, David Gerrold, Mercedes Lackey, Fred Saberhagen, George Zebrowski, David Zindell, Mike Resnick, Ian Watson, Connie Willis... plus H.G. Wells of course!

I happen to be a huge fan of H.G. Wells many books but the one that I enjoy the most is The War of the Worlds. So I bought this book up the second I found out about its existence. Being a fan of such authors as Stephen Baxter, Fred Saberhagen and Mercedes Lackey I couldn't put it down once I had it in my greedy little hands. With articles about Mars, how the novel effected sci-fi (and history in general), and even just fun sections on how smart the Martians REALLY were, this is a treasure. Also, many of the authors, in passing, mention other books and movies that have also taken the alien invasion theme from Wells and carried it onwards (many of which I have and many of which I don't have) - spin offs and such. This makes it a great source for finding sci-fi novels and movies that you might not have yet.
A must for any fan, young or old.

Although this book contains the entire text of the novel, having previously read the Wells novel, the best part of this book for me was the essays by various sci-fi writers. Just over half the book is devoted to the essays. There are about a dozen interesting pieces here on different topics, but the one I enjoyed the most was by David Gerrold, so I thought I would just briefly discuss that. But the other essays are worthwhile also and I found they enhanced my enjoyment and appreciation of the book.

In his article Gerrold discusses an obscure but interesting sequel to the Wells book, "Edison's Invasion of Mars," which had an interesting premise. The main character was none other than Thomas Alva Edison, the famous inventor, who headed up a punitive expedition to seek revenge for the Martians' invasion. Written by Garrett P. Serviss, who obtained Edison's approval before writing the book, the novel, although virtually unknown today, had several important firsts. It describes the first space suits, the first battle in space, and the first death ray. The story was published only 6 weeks after the serialized version of Wells's novel ended in the newspaper, and as it was immediately recognized as an attempt to capitalize on the Wells novel, it quickly sank into obscurity.

At first I thought envisioning the great inventor as the head of a military expedition was a little odd; but on the other hand, one could picture Edison bringing some good ol' American ingenuity and know-how to the task of visiting some interplanetary whuppass on the evil Martians. Anyway, it would have been interesting to read the book to see what kind of commander Edison was and how he was able to beat the Martians.

Oddly enough, over the years there have been one or two attempts to revive it, one time by a small press that printed 1500 copies (it was in fact their only book, before the operation folded), but it was never a success. So although completely forgotten today, the story is of interest for the several firsts I mentioned, and I enjoyed reading Gerrold's piece about this now forgotten but historically important story.

H.G.Wells was himself a cyclist. This comes through well in his Wheels of Chance, his first novel published in 1896. The plot has appeal, but the greater appeal of this book is its social history of cycling in Britain.

In 2006, as a cyclist and author, I rode from Lands End to John o'Groats - the length of Britain. I frequently thought what a wonderful country Britain would have been pre all those dreadful M roads. H.G. Wells tells, superbly, what it what it was like.

This is a much quoted book amongst 21st-century cyclists. For me it was great to read all the familiar quotes within their intended context. Wheels of Chance is a book for every cyclists' book shelf. Thankfully cyclists are typically prolific readers.

Posterity has not been kind to H.G. Wells. It's true that his name is still one of the most easily recognizable in the literary world, but since his death in 1946 his contributions to mainstream writing, feminism, and politics (he wrote the United Nations charter) have been all but forgotten--instead he has simply become known as a "science fiction writer," a reputation based on a handful of novels written early in his career. Books like "The Time Machine" and "The War of the Worlds" are indeed marvelous, and are the key texts in the development of modern science fiction; but to limit Wells's accomplishment to these books borders on calumny. Wells was one of the major writers of the past hundred years, with an oeuvre so vast and varied a reader could spend a lifetime working through it all. There is truly something for everyone in the work of H.G. Wells.

"The Wheels of Chance" is a classic example. This pitch-perfect tale of a Mr. Hoopdriver, who undertakes a bicycling tour of the English countryside, has to be one of the most charming light novels ever written. Mr. Hoopdriver's holiday from his job as a draper's assistant (a job Wells himself held in his youth) becomes a kind of lighthearted spiritual quest, as he meets and falls in love with the rebellious Jessie Milton ("the Lady in Grey"), an early "New Woman"--a proto-feminist, one might say--whose daring elopement with a much older man has gone disastrously awry. Can Mr. Hoopdriver save her? Can Jessie salvage her reputation? These questions are answered in a tale which combines glorious descriptions of the pastoral England of a century ago with uproarious scenes of early bicycling and bicyclists. And yet this "Bicycling Idyll," as it is subtitled, also carries with it a genuine poignancy--we are always aware that the characters' journey must eventually end, just as, with the coming of the automobile, the world Wells described here ended.

"The Wheels of Chance" is brief, easy-to-read, and highly memorable. Indeed, it is surprising that this fast-moving, picaresque novel has never been filmed--a company like Merchant-Ivory could do a glorious job with it. In addition to being extraordinarily entertaining, "The Wheels of Chance" can also serve as an ideal introduction to the "other" novels of the man so many of us think of simply as a "science fiction writer." And the best fact of all is that, if the reader enjoys "The Wheels of Chance," there is a huge wealth of Wells fiction available for further enjoyment.

Follow Mr. Hoopdriver as he goes on a bicycling excursion through southern England in the 1890's. The language is difficult at times, but the laughs are huge. An interesting window into Victorian morality and social status in these early days of cycling.

This early H.G. Wells' tale is about a 20-something year old man who has a job as a draper's assistant, a job which he is probably too old for. Loaded with poor self esteem and a second class status, poor Mr. Hoopdriver takes a ten day holiday. On this holiday he falls for a young socialite named Jessie who is rebelling against her stepmother and society. The tale has many interesting insights into the "proper" behavior of a British socialite. For example, late in the story one of Wells' characters says you must live fearlessly and honestly, but only as long as you do what everyone else expects of you and avoid doing extravagent things. The tale is also funny at times as it describes early bike riders trying to ride poorly designed bicycles. Though generally easy enough to read and follow, there are times when some words will baffel the reader.

A broad and prolific mind, had Mr. Wells. This book shows him in his P&P mode: Predictor and Proselytor. 'The World Brain' sounds like the title of one of his many stories which more or less invented the field of science fiction as we know it. This is not so...this is non-fiction. Nor is it like such books of his as his world history. This, in fact, is a collection of his talks, given at home, here in the US, and in Europe over a three year period on the general subject of a need for a better encyclopedia. This book will prove boring, I suspect, for most because of its' repetitious nature but for the same reason, its' repitition, it is interesting to read as his ideas move over the period. And to realize, as they do, that he is in fact, creating what we now call the World Wide Web.

First published in 1938, a modern edition is vastly improved by the addition of a critical introduction by Alan Mayne. Very much focused on how a world-brain might alter national policy-making, how Public Opinion or an "Open Conspiracy" might restore common sense and popular control to arenas previously reserved for an elite. The information functionality of the World Brain easily anticipated the world wide web as it might evolve over the next 20-30 years: comprehensive, up to date, distributed, classification scheme, dynamic, indexes, summaries and surveys, freely available and easily accessible. We have a long way to go, but the framework is there. The communication functions of the world brain would include a highly effective information retrieval system, selective dissemination of information, efficient communication facilities, effective presentation, popular education, public and individual awareness for all issues, and facilitate social networking between organizations, groups, and individuals. The world brain is the "virtual intelligence community" qua noosphere. This is one of the fundamental references for anyone thinking about the future of politics, economics, or social systems.

"There is no practical obstacle whatsoever now to the creation of an efficient index to all human knowledge, ideas and achievements, to the creation, that is, of a complete planetary memory for all mankind. It foreshadows a real intellectual unification of our race. The whole human memory can be, and probably in a short time will be, made accessible to every individual. In what is also of very great importance in this uncertain world where destruction becomes continually more frequent and unpredictable, is this, that...it need not be concentrated in a one single place. It need not be vulnerable as a human head or a human heart is vulnerable. It can be reproduced exactly and fully, in Peru, China, Iceland, Central Africa, or wherever else.... It can have at once, the concentration of a craniate animal and the diffused vitality of an amoeba." H. G. Wells, 1937 in his book titled "WORLD BRAIN"

Edit of 16 Jan 07 to add links.

This volume, reprinted in the 1990's with a superb introductory essay, is still a gem, and extremely relevant to the emerging dialog about Collective Intelligence that includes the works of people like Howard Bloom (Global Brain), Pierre Levy (Collective Intelligence), Howard Rheingold (Smart Mobs), and James Surowieki (The Wisdom of the Crowds).

Global Brain: The Evolution of Mass Mind from the Big Bang to the 21st Century
Collective Intelligence: Mankind's Emerging World in Cyberspace
Smart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution
The Wisdom of Crowds

The Internet has finally made possible the vision of H. G. Wells, as well as the vision of Quincy Wright (who called for a World Intelligence Center in the 1950's, using only open sources of information).

This specific work is the first brick in a global networked brain that is also linked to eliminating poverty and war and producing what Alvin and Heidi Toffler call "Revolutionary Wealth" (also the title of their book coming out in April 2006). Thomas Stewart ("Wealth of Knowledge") and Barry Carter ("Infinite Wealth") are among my other heros in this specific genre of the literature. See my List on Collective Intelligence, and my reviews of all these other books.

Revolutionary Wealth: How it will be created and how it will change our lives
The Wealth of Knowledge: Intellectual Capital and the Twenty-first Century Organization
Infinite Wealth: A New World of Collaboration and Abundance in the Knowledge Era

Published since my view, and highly pertinent:
The Wealth of Networks: How Social Production Transforms Markets and Freedom
The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty Through Profits (Wharton School Publishing Paperbacks)

If you love H.G. Wells and have the urge to want to own The Invisible Man and read short stories from this great king of science fiction I suggest buying this inexpensive book.
The 17 short stories included take up 178 pages, here is a list of them. I know I wanted to know.
The Crystal Egg, The Man Who Could Work Miracles, The Plattner Story, The Strange Orchid, The New Accelerator, The Diamond Maker, The Apple, The Purple Pileus, A Dream of Armageddon, Aepyornis Island, In the Abyss, The Star, The Lord of the Dynamos, The Story of Davidson's Eyes, In the Avu Observatory, The Sea Raiders, and Filmer.

All books written by Wells has proven themselves worth their salt as all time sci-fi classics. This collection of stories is sure to please all of the most avid readers expecting great imagination.

For any s/f devotee, particularly Wells fans, this book is a must. It is an absolute feast for the mind, disclosing any number of fictional but feasible possibilities, and how people cope with their unexpected benefits and dangers. Most of the stories are tightly written, boldly imaginative, and always entertaining. I and couldn't put it down, even after I had read it through the first time.

By way of examples, in separate stories, you will encounter a lost Inca kingdom where no one has eyes; two chemists who discover an alkaloid so powerful that men who ingest become equipped with the power to move at super speed; orchids that anesthetize people and suck their blood; ants that become intelligent and drive people out of the tropics in South America: how the Earth barely ecapes destruction when two planets collide and pass by on their way to the Sun; the tale of the first adventurer to descend into the ocean depths, the man who discovers the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge in Eden, and on, and on, and on.

In typical Wellsian fashion, each story is festooned with those small details giving examples of careful though and review. for example in "The New Accelerator", the author is careful to not how the men's clothing becomes singed because they move so fast.

The number of things Wells envisons that have since come to exist include paved highways, powered flight, descent to the bottom of the sea in steel globes, and many more. It is perhaps ths aspect of the book that is the most fascinating.

For entertainment and intellectual stimulation from s/f, Wells is hard to beat. This book is very highly recommended. DON'T LOAN IT OUT.

My knowledge of this tale dates from the old Claude Rains movie, so it was interesting, as usual, to go back to the source and see what Wells actually wrote. While very short,the novel falls into two halves: the first faintly comic (you can see it peopled by all those Universal British character actors), the second more suspenseful and more of what the whole novel should have been.

The "explanation" chaper (i.e. how he did it)was fascinating in the way all these pseudo-science chapters are (one of the best was in "Jurassic Park") and the ramifications of being invisible were constantly intriguing. The problem with the book is that while Wells had a great idea he couldn't construct a great narrative to go with it.

This book is not as creepy as "The Island of Doctor Moreau" nor as horrific as "War of the Worlds". And for sheer metaphoric brillance and poetic resonance nothing can top "The Time Machine". But Wells was such a wonderful writer that several hours in his presence is never time wasted.

First off, the book is amazing--taut, tantalizing and fast-moving. The protagonist is . . . fascinatingly horrible. I really don't want to reveal more. It was fun for me because I knew so little about what was going to happen!

Wells does a masterful job of leading the plot through several points of view. Some parts you see happen before you, some you only hear about and some you can only guess at. It leaves the reader wanting more until the very unexpected, very horrifying end.

Now, as for this edition, I found it very meddlesome and cantankerous. The footnotes took particular pleasure in pointing out every mistake Wells made, whether with the timeline or in describing events. It was frustrating to read, as I didn't dare skip the notes because some of them were necessary to get definitions of words we are not familiar with today.

So, yes, read this book. Please. But no, don't get this version. Got it? Good!

This is a absolutely wonderful book that can be read quickly, maybe even in one sitting. It is told in the first person by an observer who knows the invisible man and is appalled by the transformation that is taking place as both drugs and power corrupt his acquaintence's mind.

What is so fun about this book is the pace: you really feel like you are there. It is all realistically imagined, down to the slowness of the undigested food that can still be seen in the invisible's man stomach. This makes the book far better sci-fi than the films, with the possible exception of the one with Claude Rains, which is the best one and the closest to the original novel by far.

In addition to Mary SHelley and Jules Verne, Wells helped to set the standard for all hard sci-fi that followed. Thus, if you like sci-fi as literature, this is a MUST read. But if you want a really fun read, this is also good for that.

Warmly recommended.

A quite good and quite eclectic selection of stories. Something of everything, sf, fantasy, horror, crime, war, etc.

Stolen Bacillus : The Stolen Bacillus and Other Incidents - H. G. Wells
Stolen Bacillus : The Stolen Bacillus - H. G. Wells
Stolen Bacillus : The Flowering of the Strange Orchid - H. G. Wells
Stolen Bacillus : In the Avu Observatory - H. G. Wells
Stolen Bacillus : The Triumphs of a Taxidermist - H. G. Wells
Stolen Bacillus : A Deal with Ostriches - H. G. Wells
Stolen Bacillus : Through a Window - H. G. Wells
Stolen Bacillus : The Temptation of Harringay - H. G. Wells
Stolen Bacillus : The Flying Man - H. G. Wells
Stolen Bacillus : The Diamond Maker - H. G. Wells
Stolen Bacillus : Aepyornis Island - H. G. Wells
Stolen Bacillus : The Remarkable Case of Davidson's Eyes - H. G. Wells
Stolen Bacillus : The Lord of the Dynamos - H. G. Wells
Stolen Bacillus : The Hammerpond Park Bruglary - H. G. Wells
Stolen Bacillus : The Moth - H. G. Wells
Stolen Bacillus : The Treasure in the Forest - H. G. Wells

Anarchy plague hard to swallow.

3.5 out of 5


Hothouse leech.

4 out of 5


Big flying thing I think.

3.5 out of 5


New bird fooling.

3 out of 5


Jewellery eater.

3 out of 5


Krees manhunt.

3.5 out of 5


Bloody painting.

3 out of 5


Parachute raid.

3.5 out of 5


Pressure flux offer.

3.5 out of 5


Big egg hatching.

4 out of 5


Remote viewing.

3.5 out of 5


Engine sacrifice.

3.5 out of 5


Nice way to do the robbing business.

3 out of 5


Not fair to die before the end of the debate.

4 out of 5


Poison gold.

3.5 out of 5

I really enjoyed this collection of 15 tales which range from a different way of looking at every day events, to high adventure (complete with buried treasure), mystery, magic, and science fiction. There is something for everyone in this collection.

These tales show imagination and all are beautifully written in Wells' classical style. One of H.G. Wells' biggest strengths is his ability to paint a picture with words. The reader is very much able to visualize what is going on, whithout being told every single detail.

A must read collection for fans of H.G. Wells and classic SciFi alike.

Personal favorites in this collection include "The Lord of the Dynamos", "Trough A Window", and "The Treasure in the Forest".

H G Wells wrote and published this book of short stories in 1895; the first book he published, if I remember correctly. The writing style is typical Wells - just like he was sitting in front of you telling you a tale - and the stories themselves are quite entertaining. The topics range from an Anarchist set to destroy London by stealing a vial of cholera bacilla (the title story) to a man describing his time on a deserted island and how he hatched out an egg that had been preserved for 400 years. I think my favorite was the taxidermist story, just because it was really twisted :-) Give this book a try - it's a great introduction to the writings of a classic author of truly tremendous standing.

After decades of being the prophet of a future world made wondrous by science, Wells in his last years does an inexplicable about-face, adopting a philosophy of nihilism that seems more reminiscent of Jean Paul Sartre and the French existentialists. Always more than a little bit ahead of his time, perhaps Wells sensed the social and psychological decay and decline that the West would fall prey to over the last several decades, not to mention the false dreams of empire that the U.S. has succumbed to in recent years. Interestingly, Robert A. Heinlein, the most notable student and successor to Wells's tradition of sociologically oriented science fiction, also in his late novel, Friday, showed a similar darkening of his views to the point of extreme pessimism in regard to the future of the human race. And both authors have been quite prescient and mostly been proven right by the social, economic, and psychological trends in the U.S., if not the entire world, over the last few decades.

I was first made aware of this intimidating, frightening little tome on man's difficult place in the universe by Colin Wilson's famous "Outsider". HG Wells, a man who spent most of his life penning works such as "Ye Shall Be As Gods" and optimistic science fiction, suddenly did a frightening 360. For centuries, Wells tells us, human genius has been looking for something beyond the realm of the everyday, something essential--in short, something meaningful. The unreal character of human life is made abundantly clear in Wells' almost bitter, certainly disillusioned tone. "There is no way out or round or through," Wells tells us with complete assurance. Not only is there no hope, hope itself is merely an illusion that arrived with human consciousness.

While this might not be for everyone, it is certainly fascinating for those who know the 'lifelong' Wells or remember Orson Welles excitedly reading "The War of the Worlds" over network radio to much acclaim. This is an HG Wells we have never seen before.

Wells argues in Mind at the End of its Tether that human existence is about to be extinguished. He claims that there has been a change in the conditions of the universe and that this change signals the end of being. Previously, events had a cord of logical consistency running through them; 'now it is as if that cord had vanished'. Wells searches for the correct term that can capture this nascent negative force and eventually opts for 'The Antagonist'.

Wells' viewpoints may be considered the solipsism of an unhealthy mind projecting an individual state onto the macrocosm. He acknowledges that the healthy person, with their innate gift for self-evasion, is a component of 'the normal multitude, which will carry on in this ever contracting NOW of our daily lives, quite unawake to what it is that makes so much of our existence distressful'. Faced with extinction, Wells projects his existential state beyond the parameters of his personal condition onto the whole of humanity. Wells' perturbation may be distancing him from reality, in that he believes that there has been a manifest change in the status of being. Decay has always been the symbiont of creation: what may have occurred was a realisation that the former was leading to the final contraction of his 'now'. We do not need to invoke an 'antagonist' to explain a finite life which is played out in an indifferent universe. However, it is not necessarily crude anthropocentric idealism to believe that, to all intents and purposes, the world dies with us. The death faced by Wells will be faced by us all and therefore his generalisations are appropriate. Wells muses about death and considers the nihilistic likelihood of oblivion. Wells believes that our lives are insubstantial and, a la Macbeth, signify nothing. Our loves, hates, triumphs and tragedies are enacted within the inexorable march of insentient time. Our striving is in vain - we will be forgotten.

He also cites examples of the evolution of existence and how this led to conscious human life. He describes how animals developed backbones as a result of the capricious meanderings of nature. Wells recognises the contingency of occurrences that accumulated to eventually spawn human existence. He writes about the development of primate species which gave rise to homo sapiens. There is nothing romantic or sacred about this development; it was a result of the blind, amoral and aggressive march of evolution. Wells notes: 'the little fellows faded out before the big fellows, according to the time-honoured pattern of life'.

One may presume, however, that Wells possessed these insights earlier in his life; it is only now that he documents them as a source of discomfort. There has been no change to the pattern of logical consistency, only a change in Wells apprehension of this pattern. Rational endeavour contains no intrinsic orientation towards hope, salvation or progress. Wells' outpourings may be the result of spiritual crisis when contemplating the proximity of an utterly inevitable death - rationality cannot ease this burden. Distinctive human attributes that have contributed to the development of scientific inquiry have somewhat paradoxically generated knowledge which denies human value and distinctiveness. Rationality it seems offers us 'no way out or round or through the impasse'.

H. G. Wells set a new standard for works of history with his "Outline of History" first published in 1920. While most histories tend to focus on a relatively narrow period of time (the American Civil War, the Crusades, etc.), Mr. Wells took a much broader view. He attempted, and largely succeeded, in giving a grand overview of world history. He may have gone a little too far, beginning with the creation of the world and the development of life, the early hominids and the first Homo Sapiens. What this work may lack in depth on a particular topic or era, he more than makes up for in the sweeping view of history - it really gallops along. For me it was like the view from the top of a mountain - a great, wide panorama, allowing you to see the "lay of the land" and relate all the elements you can see. You can't see the details of the trees, lakes and fields, but you see how they all fit together.

He also consciously tried to avoid a problem common to most Western historians, that is, a Eurocentric view of the world. He attempted to give a presentation as balanced as possible, showing the contributions to history of non-European peoples (particularly Asia and Africa).

Lastly, his writing style is very readable, even today. Although he was critizied by his contemporaries for "popularizing" history, he did show that history could be interesting and enjoyable.

There are multiple editions of this work, and it has been published as a single volume and as a two-volume set. All of them are readable, although I think I can detect a change of tone in later editions, more cynical and even melancholy in outlook. Despite some obvious flaws that can be pointed out by historians, it is an excellent overview, well worth reading. It would be a very appropriate basis for a senior high school history class or lower division college history class.

Most history books deal with a particular country or a particular region. This book covers the history of the entire world. The adventures of man over the whole world from early times has much drama to it. The very secular interpretation of early Christianity is a disappointment to this reviewer. But as history, it is a significant book.

This work ranks among the premier volumes on the subject of world history.
The writing is of the highest order as to sentence structure, vocabulary
and general usage. The author discusses the history of the world from the
BC period up to the 20th century. There is a considerable coverage of the
Roman Empire, the Middle Ages, the Industrial Period and the global
struggles of the early 20th century. The life and times of the Mediterranean peoples, Mesopotania and Asia are explained . The author discusses both the historical and cultural dimensions of world history
including some reference to the pre-historic period and longstanding
Chinese dynasties.

The contents could fill a dozen or more dissertations.
The presentation is geared for collegiate study/review or well-read/sophisticated readers. These volumes
would make a good starting point for a dissertation on world history,
culture or politics. The contents of this book could be helpful in
crafting a global framework for better understanding in today's world.

Sample topics include the following:
1. Space and Time
2. The Beginnings of Life, Fishes, Reptiles , Birds and Mammals
3. Primitive Thought and Early Civilizations
4. Sumeria, Early Egypt and Writing
5. Nomads and Seafaring Peoples
6. Egypt, Babylon, Assyria and Ancient Greece
7. The Wars of the Greeks and Persians, Alexander the Great
8. Confucius and Lao Tse
9. The Roman Empire, the Huns, Chinese Dynasties, Muhammad and Islam
10. The Crusades, Popes and the Great Schism, European Revival
11. The Industrial Revolution, the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars
12. Steamship, Railways, the Rise of Germany and Japan
13. The British Empire, World War I, Russian Famine
14. Political and Social Reconstruction

in this cassette there is a fantastic interpretation of the war of the worlds, although you can't see anything, the actors are so good that you feel yourself in another strange world...

A few years ago I purchased the cassette tape version of this play and enjoyed it a lot. Unfortunately, I lost my copy and have wanted to listen to this play many times since then. I'm glad I purchased this item again and look forward to hearing it again.

After purchasing this audio novel I was initially upset because it was only an hour long. I much prefer my audio novels to be at least 2 hours long. With a foul mode in place I began to listen to the tape. In a few short minutes I was quickly swept up into the story, recogizing my favorite Star Trek actors as they played their parts. The audio novel although short has an excellant production quality. The story is concise and easy to follow. I would like to thank John DeLancie for directing this project and for the participaction of the other actors. I would not hesitate to recommend this audio novel and look forward to others from John DeLancy, Lenard Nimoy and the rest of the Star Trek gang. (The RAMA science fiction series would be great.) Please make them at least 2 hours though.