The War of the Worlds (Collins Classics) H. G. Wells 9780008590178

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'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 English countryside, the inhabitants of Earth find themselves victims of a terrible attack. Ruthless Martians, armed with heat rays and poisonous smoke, are intent on destroying humanity. As the unnamed narrator struggles to find his way across decimated wastelands, the fate of the planet hangs in the balance...

First serialised in 1897, The War of the Worlds terrified and thrilled its readers, the fictional alien invasion evoking a new and hair-raising idea: we are not alone. The imagination of H.G. Wells has had a lasting and significant impact on the science fiction genre, and continues to inspire the work of countless writers, artists and directors to this day.

H. G. Wells was a prolific author and was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature four times. He is best remembered for his science fiction novels, and is considered a founding father of the genre. His most notable works include The Time Machine, The Island of Doctor Moreau, The Invisible Man and The War of the Worlds. He died in 1946.

'groundbreaking ... a true classic that has pointed the way not just for science-fiction writers, but for how we as a civilisation might think of ourselves' Guardian

'[Wells' work is] astonishingly rich in human and historical interest ... he foresaw the invention of, among other things, television, tanks, aerial warfare and the atom bomb' David Lodge

'I personally consider the greatest of English living writers [to be] H. G. Wells' Upton Sinclair