HAPPY BIRTHDAY – H.G. Wells, born 21 September 1866
“If we don’t end war, war will end us.”
H.G. Wells
Herbert George Wells was a pioneer of science fiction writing, and I admit that the science fiction section of a library or bookshop is one section I rarely visit. Is reading science fiction more a male thing than female? It is a genre that generally leaves me cold.
However I did enjoy Wells’s The Invisible Man, I loved David Lodge’s novels about H.G. Wells called A Man of Parts, and I find Wells’ life a very interesting one. I loved writing a chapter on his visit to Australia in my book Brief Encounters: Literary Travellers in Australia because it was so controversial – he kicked up quite a fuss and managed to upset so many people. It’s hard to believe that he offended the Prime Minister of the day by stating that Hitler was a maniac (this was just before WWII) – he was rebuked for making such rude remarks about Germany’s Head of State.
H.G. Wells died on 13 August 1946, aged 79.
Tell me your thoughts in the comment area below.
Brief Encounters: Literary Travellers in Australia 1836-1939 by Susannah Fullerton
The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells
The Time Machine by H.G. Wells
The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells
A Man of Parts by David Lodge
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William Hill
My great grandmother’s (my mother’s grandmother Nesbitt) whose maiden name was Susannah Wells related to H.G. Wells. Was shown the documents in our family tree when I was about 14 years old visiting my mother’s relatives and family in the Columbus area of Ohio and confirmed recently by Ancestry.com!
Susannah Fullerton
How fabulous to have a family connection with HG Wells. There is a new biography about him – by Claire Tomalin, who is always a wonderful biographer.