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.
223 pages 4h 19m reading time
One of the founding works of science fiction and the model for nearly every alien invasion story that came after it.
Imagines humans being treated by a more advanced species the way the British Empire treated the peoples it conquered, asking readers to see empire from the side of the conquered.
Shows the mighty invaders brought down in the end not by human weapons but by ordinary germs, suggesting that humans are not as much in control of the world as they believe.
Orson Welles's 1938 radio version, told as if it were a live news report, became one of the most famous broadcasts in history and is still studied as a lesson in the power of mass media.
Inspired generations of films, comics, and novels, and helped spark the early interest of rocket pioneer Robert Goddard in space flight.
Killing off his neighbors
The author biked around his home town of Woking, choosing real local places for the Martians to destroy.
A brother's question
The idea grew from his brother Frank wondering what would happen if beings from another planet suddenly landed.
Inspired by Mars sightings
Astronomers of the time claimed to see channels on Mars, making life there seem possible to many readers.
Stolen by American newspapers
American papers ran unapproved versions that moved the invasion to New York and Boston.
H. G. Wells 1898