About the book

H.G. Wells (21 September 1866 - 13 August 1946) was an English author best known as a sci-fi writer, though he was also a prolific writer in many other genres, including contemporary novels, history, politics and social commentary, and even writing text books and rules for war games. Together with Jules Verne and Hugo Gernsback, Wells has been referred to as "The Father of Science Fiction." Wells was an outspoken socialist and sympathetic to pacifist views, although he supported the First World War once it was under way, and his later works became increasingly political and didactic. His middle-period novels (1900-1920) were less science-fictional; they covered lower-middle class life (The History of Mr Polly) and the "New Woman" and the Suffragettes (Ann Veronica). Wells' best known works are The Invisible Man, The Time Machine, and The War of the Worlds, the latter being notorious for a radio broadcast reading of the novel that caused panic among those listening who actually thought aliens were invading. The Island of Doctor Moreau is also considered a classic. The Invisible Man is a classic story of a man whose scientific breakthrough comes back to haunt him, as Griffin is able to create invisibility but is unable to reverse it. The notion of bending optics has some basis in reality, with invisibility cloaks still sought today.