The War of the Worlds

Description

A beautiful new edition of the science-fiction classic, soon to be a major BBC drama "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 an alien capsule lands on Horsell Common, Woking, crowds of astonished onlookers gather. But wonder soon turns to terror when the Martians emerge. Armed with deadly heat rays, the aliens begin their conquest of earth. Faced with powers beyond our control, a technology far in advance of our own, and a race of alien invaders which regard us as no more than ants, humankind is challenged like never before. One man sets out alone to save his family. But with no one to save him, our unnamed hero must also face the struggle for survival across the desolate wasteland that was once his home, while the world trembles under the shadow of the Martian menace.

H.G. Wells was a professional writer and journalist who published more than a hundred books, including pioneering science fiction novels, histories, essays and programmes for world regeneration. He was a founding member of numerous movements including Liberty and PEN International - the world's oldest human rights organization - and his Rights of Man laid the groundwork for the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Wells' controversial and progressive views on equality and the shape of a truly developed nation remain directly relevant to our world today. He was, in Bertrand Russell's words, 'an important liberator of thought and action'.

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 * The War of the Worlds remains the barometer by which all extra-terrestrial invasions are measured, from V to Independence Day to Arrival * Irish Times * The classic tale of alien invasion, and still the best * The Times * Wells occupies an honoured place in science fiction -- Kingsley Amis A born story-teller -- J.B. Priestly Wells is the Shakespeare of science fiction * Brian Aldiss *