The War of the WorldsIntroduction by Arthur C. Clarke Commentary by Jules Verne and an anonymous reviewer from The Critic “No one would have believed in the last years of the nineteenth century that this world was being watched keenly and closely by intelligences greater than man’s and yet as mortal as his own.” Thus begins one of the most terrifying and morally prescient science fiction novels ever penned. Beginning with a series of strange flashes in the distant night sky, the Martian attack initially causes little concern on Earth. Then the destruction erupts—ten massive aliens roam England and destroy with heat rays everything in their path. Very soon humankind finds itself on the brink of extinction. H. G. Wells raises questions of mortality, man’s place in nature, and the evil lurking in the technological future—questions that remain urgently relevant in the twenty-first century. Includes a Modern Library Reading Group Guide |
Contents
The Eve of the War | 3 |
The Falling Star | 10 |
On Horsell Common | 14 |
Copyright | |
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Addlestone artilleryman began Black Smoke blackened body bridge brother Byfleet Chertsey Chobham common crawled creatures crowd curate cylinder dark dead death dogcart door drove earth Edgware escape eyes face faint fear feet fighting machine fire flame flash George's Hill green grew ground guns H. G. Wells Society hand handling machine head heap heard Heat Ray Hill horse Horsell Horsell Common houses huge human hurried JULES VERNE kitchen lane Leatherhead light London looked Mars Martians Maybury Maybury Hill mind morning night northward Ogilvy Ottershaw planet Pyrford railway red weed river road rose ruins running rushed sand pits scarcely scullery seemed seen Shepperton shouted side silent slowly smashed sound staring station stood stopped strange stream streets struggle suddenly tentacles Thames things thought turned ulla vapor watching Wells's Weybridge wife Wimbledon window Woking Woking station yards