The War of the WorldsH.G. Wells's science fiction classic, the first novel to explore the possibilities of intelligent life from other planets, it still startling and vivid nearly after a century after its appearance, and a half-century after Orson Wells's infamous 1938 radio adaptation. The daring portrayal of aliens landing on English soil, with its themes of interplanetary imperialism, technological holocaust and chaos, is central to the career of H.G. Wells, who died at the dawn of the atomic age. The survival of mankind in the face of "vast and cool and unsympathetic" scientific powers spinning out of control was a crucial theme throughout his work. Visionary, shocking and chilling, The War Of The Worlds has lost none of its impact since its first publication in 1898. |
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artilleryman began Black Smoke blackened body bridge brother Byfleet Charles Dickens Chertsey Chobham common crawled creatures crowd curate cylinder D. H. Lawrence dark dawn dead death door drove earth Edith Wharton escape eyes face faint fear feet fighting-machines fire flame flash Fyodor Dostoevsky going green grew grey guns hand handling-machine heap heard Heat-Ray Hill horse Horsell Horsell Common houses huge hurried Jane Austen kitchen lane Leatherhead light London Londonward looked machine Mars Martians Maybury Maybury Hill mind morning nearer night noise northward Ogilvy Ottershaw planet Pyrford railway realise red weed river road rose round ruins running rushed sand pits scarcely scullery seemed seen Shepperton shouted side silent slowly smashed sound staring steam stood stopped strange streets struggle suddenly tentacles Thames things thought tians turned ulla vapour watching Weybridge wife window Woking station yards