Showing results by author "H.G. Wells" in All Categories

H. G. Wells examines the origins of the Earth, and the development of life upon the planet, as it was understood in his era, and then explores the history of human civilization from its earliest beginnings, through the various empires of world history, up to the aftermath of the First World War, and the League of Nations.

'They came in cylinders as dreaded falling stars; they were the ultimate killing machines...' When a Martian spacecraft crash-lands near Woking, mankind is terrorised by aliens in tall, armoured capsules that stalk the countryside on three legs. The frightening machines wreak havoc on London...

"This is a history and not a glorification of Mr. Polly, and I tell of things as they were with him.” So writes H.G Wells toward the end of his story of Mr. Polly, and indeed, the narrator’s voice throughout the book leaves us altogether ambivalent about his protagonist. The diminutive Everyman of the story is neither fully hero nor villain.

Full-cast dramatisations of six masterpieces from the founding fathers of dystopian fiction Dark and disturbing, provocative and prescient, dystopian literature has long captured our imagination with its nightmarish visions of forbidding future worlds. Included here are six classic novels of...

Penguin Classics presents H. G. Wells' The Time Machine, adapted for audio and now available as a digital download as part of the Penguin English Library series. Read by the actor Brian Cox. 'Great shapes like big machines rose out of the dimness, and cast grotesque black shadows, in which dim...

This collection comprises stories by and inspired by the originators of weird fiction. From Allen's "The Arctic Death", through to Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart", Stoker's "Dracula's Guest", and beyond. Time immemorial; worlds unimaginable.

This Audiobook contains the following works: "The prophet" [Khalil Gibran], "Treasure Island" [Robert Louis Stevenson], "White fang" [Jack London], "The Time machine" [H. G. Wells], "The Battle of Life" [Charles Dickens], "The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes" [Arthur Conan Doyle], "The Three Musketeers" [Alexandre Dumas], "The adventures of Pinocchio" [Carlo Collodi], "Robinson Crusoe" [Daniel Defoe], "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" [Mark Twain].

This 1911 collection of thirty-three stories, selected and revised by the author from amongst his huge output of short fiction, includes tales of comedy, horror, monsters, and strange worlds. In his Introduction, Wells writes that the book brings together, “All the short stories by me that I care for any one to read again,” and that, “No short story of mine of the slightest merit is excluded from this volume.”

Ten vintage dramas on the theme of murder, written by internationally recognised authors and set across the globe ‘Murder is murder, anywhere in the world. The taking of life, the most terrible crime a human being can commit, is the same in any language, whether it springs from vengeance...

Englishman Edward Prendick finds himself shipwrecked on the open ocean. When a passing ship takes him aboard and revives him, things are starting to look less gloomy for the young scientist. Yet little does he know things about to get much worse. He is taken to an abandoned island occupied only by Dr. Moreau, a disgraced English scientist for his unethical treatment of live creatures. Prendick finds that the Doctor has been up to old habits, using the island's animals to create animal-human hybrids.

One would think that after the momentous events of 1969 H.G Wells’ science fiction adventure The First Men in the Moon would have lost any fascination for the modern listener. Yet, of course, Wells is never concerned merely with the mechanics of science fiction. It is surely the human reaction to these events that grips us and causes us to return again and again to this story.

The Time Machine is a science fiction novella by H. G. Wells, published in 1895. It is generally credited with the popularisation of the concept of time travel by using a vehicle that allows an operator to travel purposefully and selectively. The term "time machine", coined by Wells, is now universally used to refer to such a vehicle. This work is an early example of the Dying Earth subgenre.The Time Machine has since been adapted into two feature films of the same name, as well as two television versions, and a large number of comic book adaptations. It has also indirectly inspired many more ...

Herbert George Wells was one of the most prolific and visionary British writers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. H. G. Wells is now best remembered for his science fiction novels, although he wrote across many genres, including nonfiction. His fiction embraces history, science fiction, horror, satire, fantasy, and social commentary. Wells was also a futurist, foreseeing air travel, tanks (as in “The Land Ironclads” - part of this anthology) space travel, nuclear weapons, and even satellite television.

The War of the Worlds introduced the idea of alien invasion to the world. Featuring inscrutable extra-terrestrials armed with a terrifying array of weapons, including the Heat-Ray, robotic killing machines walking on three legs, and 'black smoke', the novel resonated with Victorian Britain. The ingenious creations of Wells' mind stood out from the abundance of invasion literature that was flooding the market at the time.

Brought to you by Penguin. This Penguin Classic is performed by Robert Glenister who is best known, amongst other roles, as "Three Socks" Morgan in the BBC series Hustle. He is also known for his roles in Spooks and Law and Order. This definitive recording includes an Introduction by Christopher...

One morning, Graham rises from a medical-induced slumber and finds that he has slept for 200 years. The small money he had saved has grown exponentially, and he is now the richest man on earth. But what kind of a world is this? It is the year 2100 and London is unrecognisable. A twisted and oppressive slave state reveals itself, and this regime is being funded by Graham's own wealth, appropriated by the mysterious White Council. He must use his power to free the social underclass, but in doing so he risks his life.

A brand new BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation of HG Wells' famous story of the brutal Martian invasion of Earth. When strange explosions are observed on the surface of Mars, excitement spreads among the scientific community. Surrey astronomer Ogilvy invites his friend Robert to the observatory to witness the turbulence on the red planet.

After many days at sea, Edward Prendick is picked up by a schooner transporting exotic animals to an undisclosed location. On this secret island he is forced to disembark, catching faint glimpses of creatures born from nightmares.

Step into the chilling, fast-paced world of The Invisible Man by H. G. Wells, a groundbreaking classic of science fiction and psychological horror. When the mysterious scientist Griffin unlocks the secret of invisibility, his triumph quickly descends into obsession, paranoia, and terror. Unseen by the world yet increasingly unhinged, he stalks the streets, spreads fear, and tests the limits of power without accountability.

The thesis of this story is that “because of the development of scientific knowledge, separate sovereign states and separate sovereign empires are no longer possible in the world. To attempt to keep on with the old system is to heap disaster upon disaster for [hu]mankind and perhaps to destroy our race altogether. The remaining interest of this book now is the sustained validity of this thesis and the discussion of the possible ending of war on the earth.”