H. G. Wells

1866–1946

English writer whose science fiction, beginning with The Time Machine, imagined time travel and alien invasion Show bio

Bio

H. G. Wells broke his leg as a boy and began reading library books in bed. He later spent three unhappy years as a draper's apprentice, working thirteen-hour days.

Wells won a scholarship to study biology in London under the scientist Thomas Henry Huxley. He sketched an early version of The Time Machine in a student magazine he helped found. Wells made his books convincing by pairing everyday detail with a single extraordinary idea.

He went on to foresee aircraft, tanks, space travel and nuclear weapons. Wells turned his draper's apprenticeship into novels like Kipps, which questioned how society shared its wealth.

Books by H. G. Wells

  1. The Time Machine
    1895

    This short science fiction novel follows a Victorian inventor who travels into the distant future. In the year 802701, he meets the gentle Eloi and discovers the underground world of the Morlocks.

    2h 22m reading time

  2. The War of the Worlds
    1898

    This science fiction novel follows an unnamed narrator through a Martian invasion of southern England. Towering Martian fighting machines stride across the countryside as people flee toward London.

    4h 19m reading time

  3. The Invisible Man
    1897

    This science fiction novel follows a scientist whose discovery makes him invisible but increasingly dangerous. His arrival at a village inn, wrapped in bandages, begins a mystery that soon turns violent.

    3h 33m reading time