Books by H.G. Wells

Ann Veronica (Penguin Classics)

by H.G. Wells

Twenty-one-year-old Ann Veronica Stanley is determined to live her own life, and when her father forbids her from attending a fashionable ball, she decides to leave her family home and make a fresh start in London.

The War of the Worlds (Aladdin Classics)

by H.G. Wells

H.G. Well's 1898 science fiction classic, The War of the Worlds, tapped into society's fears about worldwide security and an impending war in Europe. However, it wasn't until forty years later that The War of the Worlds became infamous. On October 30, 1938, the United States was certain that it was under siege by vicious Martians. Thousands of people called the police, many ran from their homes in terror, and some even sought medical attention for shock and hysteria. Martians weren't really invading: Orson Welles, a famous actor, was performing a radio dramatization of The War of the Worlds that conviced listeners an invasion could happen anytime and anywhere.

The War of the Worlds

by H. G. Wells, H.G. Wells

Accompanied by Edward's Gorey's masterful, timelessly haunting illustrations, H. G. Wells's classic story of alien invasion.

When massive, intelligent aliens from Mars touch down in Victorian England and threaten to destroy the civilized world, humanity's vaunted knowledge proves to be of little use. First published in 1898, H. G. Wells's masterpiece of speculative fiction has thrilled and delighted generations of readers, spawned countless imitations, and inspired dramatizations by such masters as Orson Welles and Steven Spielberg. The War of the Worlds is a fantasy that is both startlingly up-to-date and in touch with the most ancient of human fears.
In 1960, Edward Gorey prepared a set of his inimitable pen-and-ink drawings to illustrate a new edition of Wells's The War of the Worlds for the legendary Looking Glass Library. Characteristically quirky, elegant, and entrancing, Gorey's visual take on Wells's seminal tour de force has been unavailable for close to fifty years. This special hardcover edition from NYRB Classics brings back for today's readers a richly rewarding collaboration between two modern masters of all that's wonderful and strange.

The War of the Worlds

by H. G. Wells, H.G. Wells

The seminal masterpiece of alien invasion, The War of the Worlds (1898) conjures a terrifying, tentacled race of Martians who devastate the Earth and feed on their human victims while their voracious vegetation, the red weed, spreads over the ruined planet. After the novel’s hero finds himself trapped in what is left of London, despairing at the destruction of human civilization, he discovers that life on Earth is more resilient than he had imagined. Adapted by Orson Welles for his notorious 1938 radio drama and subsequently by many filmmakers, H. G. Wells’s timeless story shows no sign of losing its grip on readers’ imaginations.

The War of the Worlds

by H. G. Wells, H.G. Wells

“This isn't a war," said the artilleryman. "It never was a war, any more than there's war between man and ants.” ― H.G. Wells, The War of the Worlds

The War of the Worlds is a science fiction novel by English author H. G. Wells. It first appeared in serialized form in 1897, published simultaneously in Pearson's Magazine in the UK and Cosmopolitan magazine in the US. The first appearance in book form was published by William Heinemann of London in 1898.

It is the first-person narrative of an unnamed protagonist in Surrey and that of his younger brother in London as Earth is invaded by Martians. Written between 1895 and 1897, it is one of the earliest stories that detail a conflict between mankind and an extraterrestrial race. The novel is one of the most commented-on works in the science fiction canon. The War of the Worlds has two parts, Book One: The Coming of the Martians and Book Two: The Earth under the Martians.

The narrator, a philosophically inclined author, struggles to return to his wife while seeing the Martians lay waste to the southern country outside London. Book One also imparts the experience of his brother, also unnamed, who describes events as they deteriorate in the capital, forcing him to escape the Martian onslaught by boarding a paddle steamer near Tilling ham, on the Essex coast.

A True Classic that Belongs on Every Bookshelf!

The War of the Worlds

by H. G. Wells, H.G. Wells

HarperCollins is proud to present its incredible range of best-loved, essential classics.

"For a time I believed that mankind had been swept out of existence, and that I stood there alone, the last man left alive."

When a strange, meteor-like object lands in the heart of England, the inhabitants of Earth find themselves victims of a terrible attack. A ruthless race of Martians, armed with heat rays and poisonous smoke, is intent on destroying everything that stands in its way. As the unnamed hero struggles to find his way across decimated wastelands, the fate of the planet hangs in the balance . . .

H. G. Wells was a pioneer of modern science fiction. First serialised in the UK in 1897, The War of the Worlds is one of the earliest stories to depict conflict with an extraterrestrial race, and has influenced countless adaptations and sequels.

The War of the Worlds

by H. G. Wells, H.G. Wells

The classic and terrifying HG Wells novel of alien invasion is now a landmark series for the BBC from the makers of Poldark, Victoria and And Then There Were None.

One night a shooting star is seen over the skies of Surrey. The next day, it's discovered to have been a mysterious metallic cylinder from Mars. What comes next is a terrifying alien attack, as tentacled Martian invaders emerge from the cylinder and prey on humankind using shocking new weapons against which the people of Victorian England can offer no resistance.

The aliens begin to devastate the area in their tripod machines, and as our narrator struggles to return to his wife, the fight for London - and the world - begins.

Now with a new introduction by Stephen Baxter.

'A true classic'
GUARDIAN

'Immortal science fiction'
TELEGRAPH

The War of the Worlds

by H. G. Wells, H.G. Wells

For the first time since their original publication in Pearson's Magazine, Warwick Goble's illustrations for The War of the Worlds are available in this exquisite hardcover edition. Combining the magazine's original art with the revised text from the story's subsequent publication in book form, this edition boasts more than fifty of Goble's black-and-white illustrations, providing an unforgettable visceral and atmospheric accompaniment to H. G. Wells's classic tale.

The War of the Worlds

by H. G. Wells, H.G. Wells

Now in paperback, and accompanied by Edward's Gorey's masterful, timelessly haunting illustrations, H. G. Wells's classic story of alien invasion.

When massive, intelligent aliens from Mars touch down in Victorian England and threaten to destroy the civilized world, humanity’s vaunted knowledge proves to be of little use.

First published in 1898, H. G. Wells’s masterpiece of speculative fiction has thrilled and delighted generations of readers, spawned countless imitations, and inspired dramatizations by such masters as Orson Welles and Steven Spielberg. The War of the Worlds is a fantasy that is startlingly up-to-date yet in touch with the most ancient of human fears.

In 1960, Edward Gorey prepared a set of his inimitable pen-and-ink drawings to illustrate a new edition of The War of the Worlds for the legendary Looking Glass Library. Characteristically quirky, elegant, and entrancing, Gorey’s visual take on Wells’s seminal tour de force was unavailable until 2005, when NYRB Classics reissued it in a special hardcover edition.

Now in paperback, this edition brings back for today’s readers a richly rewarding collaboration between two modern masters of all that’s wonderful and strange.

The Time Machine (Penguin Classics)

by H.G. Wells

Wells's genre-defining novel of time travel

When a Victorian scientist propels himself into the year a.d. 802,701, he is initially delighted to find that suffering has been replaced by beauty, contentment, and peace. Entranced at first by the Eloi, an elfin species descended from man, he soon realizes that these beautiful people are simply remnants of a once-great culture—now weak and childishly afraid of the dark. They have every reason to be afraid: in deep tunnels beneath their paradise lurks another race descended from humanity—the sinister Morlocks. And when the scientist’s time machine vanishes, it becomes clear he must search these tunnels if he is ever to return to his own era.

This edition includes a newly established text, a full biographical essay on Wells, a list of further reading, and detailed notes. Marina Warner’s introduction considers Wells’s development of the “scientific romance” and places the novel in the context of its time.

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

Short History Of The World

by H.G. Wells

Of the more than one hundred books that H. G. Wells published in his lifetime, this is one of the most ambitious. Spanning the origins of the Earth to the outcome of World War I, A Short History of the World is an engrossing account of the evolution of life and the development of the human race. Wells brings his monumental learning and penetrating historical insight to bear on the Neolithic era, the rise of Judaism, the Golden Age of Athens, the life of Christ, the rise of Islam, the discovery of America, the Industrial Revolution, and a host of other subjects. Breathtaking in scope, this thought-provoking masterwork remains one of the most readable and rewarding of its kind.

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

The Time Machine

by H.G. Wells

When the Time Traveller courageously stepped out of his machine for the first time, he found himself in the year 802,700—and everything had changed. In this unfamiliar, utopian age creatures seemed to dwell together in perfect harmony. The Time Traveller thought he could study these marvelous beings—unearth their secret and then return to his own time—until he discovered that his invention, his only avenue of escape, had been stolen.

H. G. Wells’s famous novel of one man’s astonishing journey beyond the conventional limits of the imagination first appeared in 1895. It won him immediate recognition and has been regarded ever since as one of the great masterpieces in the literature of science fiction.
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The Time Machine

by H.G. Wells

Chiltern Publishing creates the most beautiful editions of the World’s finest literature. Your favorite classic titles in a way you have never seen them before; the tactile layers, fine details and beautiful colors of these remarkable covers make these titles feel extra special and will look striking on any shelf.
The Time Machine offers a post-apocalyptic vision of humanity's future. A scientist builds a time machine and travels to future. He finds that humanity has devolved into two races: the childlike Eloi and the monstrous Morlocks. His machine disappears, so he explores but realizes that the future world is nothing like what he had envisaged or hoped for. After narrowly escaping from the Morlocks, the Time Traveller undertakes another journey even further into the future where he finds the earth growing bitterly cold as the heat and energy of the sun diminished. Horrified, he returns to the present, but soon departs again on his final journey

The Time Machine (A Stepping Stone Book(TM))

by H.G. Wells

Illus. in black-and-white. When a turn-of-the-century scientist travels into the distant future in his time machine, he expects to find progress and superior people. But instead he discovers a world in decay. Reading level: 2.4.

The First Men in the Moon (Modern Library Classics)

by H.G. Wells

“Why do people read science fiction? In hopes of receiving such writing as this—a ravishingly accurate vision of things unseen; an utterly unexpected yet necessary beauty.” So says Ursula K. Le Guin in her Introduction to The First Men in the Moon, H. G. Wells’s 1901 tale of space travel. Heavily criticized upon publication for its fantastic ideas, it is now justly considered a science fiction classic.

Cavor, a brilliant scientist who accidentally produces a gravity-defying substance, builds a spaceship and, along with the materialistic Bedford, travels to the moon. The coldly intellectual Cavor seeks knowledge, while Bedford seeks fortune. Instead of insight and gold they encounter the Selenites, a horrifying race of biologically engineered creatures who viciously, and successfully, defend their home.

The Time Machine (Graphic Revolve: Common Core Editions)

by H.G. Wells

Presents in graphic novel format the story of a scientist who invents a time machine and uses it to travel to the year 802,701 A.D., where he discovers the childlike Eloi and the hideous underground Morlocks.

The Island of Doctor Moreau: A Novel (Vintage Classics)

by H.G. Wells

Ranked among the classic novels of the English language and the inspiration for several unforgettable movies, this early work of H. G. Wells was greeted in 1896 by howls of protest from reviewers, who found it horrifying and blasphemous. They wanted to know more about the wondrous possibilities of science shown in his first book, The Time Machine, not its potential for misuse and terror. 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 ethical issues raised by producing “smarter” human beings or bringing back extinct species. These levels of interpretation add a richness to Prendick’s adventures on Dr. Moreau’s island of lost souls without distracting from what is still a rip-roaring good read.

THE ISLAND OF DOCTOR MOREAU (Illuminated Editions)

by H.G. Wells

H.G. Wells' gleefully blasphemous classic sci-fi horror tale of human chimeras and deranged scientific curiosity comes to nightmarish life through the brushwork of the legendary comic creator and graphic artist Bill Sienkiewicz. Presented in an oversized cloth-bound slipcase edition with the highest production values and finest design sensibilities, this limited edition volume also features an original introduction by filmmaker and storyteller Guillermo Del Toro, director of Pan's Labyrinth, the Hellboy Series, and 2017's Best Picture Academy Award winner The Shape of Water. Part of Beehive Books ongoing ILLUMINATED EDITIONS series, devoted to presenting classic works of prose and poetry in beautiful small-press editions.

The Time Machine / the Invisible Man

by H.G. Wells, Paul Youngquist

Together in one indispensable volume, The Time Machine and The Invisible Man are masterpieces of irony and imaginative vision from H. G. Wells, the father of science fiction.

The Time Machine conveys the Time Traveller into the distant future and an extraordinary world. There, stranded on a slowly dying Earth, he discovers two bizarre races: the effete Eloi and the subterranean Morlocks—a haunting portrayal of Darwin’s evolutionary theory carried to a terrible conclusion.

The Invisible Man is the fascinating tale of a brash young scientist who, experimenting on himself, becomes invisible and then criminally insane, trapped in the terror of his own creation.

Convincing and unforgettably real, these two classics are consummate representations of the stories that defined science fiction—and inspired generations of readers and writers.

With an Introduction by John Calvin Batchelor
and an Afterword by Paul Youngquist

The Outline of History

by H.G. Wells

The Outline of History

The Island of Doctor Moreau

by H.G. Wells

A classic of science fiction and a dark meditation on Darwinian thought in the late Victorian period, The Island of Doctor Moreau explores the possibility of civilization as a constraint imposed on savage human nature. The protagonist, Edward Prendick, finds himself stranded on an island with the notorious Doctor Moreau, whose experiments on the island’s humans and animals result in unspeakable horrors.

The critical introduction to this Broadview Edition gives particular emphasis to Wells’s hostility towards religion as well as his thorough knowledge of the Darwinian thought of his time. Appendices provide passages from Darwin and Huxley related to Wells’s early writing; in addition, excerpts from other writers illustrate late-nineteenth-century anxieties about social degeneration.