Wells, H(erbert) G(eorge) (1866-1946), English author, broadcaster, political philosopher and public figure, wrote and spoke on a wide range of subjects but is, perhaps, most famous for his science-fantasy novels with their prophetic depictions of the triumphs of technology as well as the horrors of 20th-century warfare. Wells was born September 21, 1866, in Bromley, (an outer London borough), and educated at the Normal School of Science in London, to which he won a scholarship. He worked as a draper's apprentice, bookkeeper, tutor, and journalist until 1895, when he became a full-time writer. Wells's 10-year relationship with Rebecca West produced a son, Anthony West, in 1914.
In the next 50 years he produced more than 80 books. His novel
The Time Machine (1895) mingled science, adventure, and political comment.
Later works in this genre include: The Invisible Man (1897) The War of
the Worlds When the Sleeper Awakes (1899) The First Men in the Moon (1901)
A Modern Utopia (1905) The Shape of Things to Come (1933). Wells also wrote
novels devoted to character delineation. Among these are Kipps (1905) and
The History of Mr. Polly (1910), which depict
members of the lower middle class and their aspirations. Both recall the
world of Wells's youth; the first tells the story of a struggling teacher,
the second portrays a draper's assistant. Many of Wells's other books can
be categorized as thesis novels. Among these are Ann Veronica (1909), promoting
women's rights; Tono-Bungay (1909), attacking irresponsible capitalists;
and Mr. Britling Sees It Through (1916), depicting the average Englishman's
reaction to war. After World War I (1914-1918) Wells wrote an immensely
popular historical work, The Outline of History (2 volumes, 1920).
Throughout his long life Wells was deeply concerned with and wrote voluminously about the survival of contemporary society. For a time he was a member of the Fabian Society. He envisioned a utopia in which the vast and frightening material forces available to modern men and women would be rationally controlled for progress and for the equal good of all. Some critics have said his later works were increasingly pessimistic and that the author was in despair at the end of his life. '42 to '44 (1944) castigated most world leaders of the period; Mind at the End of Its Tether (1945) expressed the author's doubts about the ability of humankind to survive. Wells also wrote An Experiment in Autobiography (1934). He died August 13, 1946, in London.
Wells is still a popular and influencial figure in English
literature. In 1999 he is read and loved by thousands around the world,
just as he was in his day. A number of film versions of his books have
been made, there have been a large number of biographies published on his
life and many of his novels have recently been reprinted. There has been
a thriving H.G.Wells Society since the 1960s.