The war of the worlds
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Edition from Project Gutenberg. Public-domain rules differ by country, so check yours before downloading.
- First published
- 1898
- Pages
- 113Digital editionReference edition
- Reading time
- About 2.5 hours5 half-hour sittings
- Language
- English
- Reading difficulty
- Not set
A little about the story
Martian machines arrive in southern England and overwhelm familiar forms of defence. Wells follows the invasion through ordinary places and the people forced to leave them.
The invasion matters partly because it overturns assumptions about which places are safe and how quickly familiar institutions can respond. Wells's narrator can report only what he can witness or learn from others while people are moving around him.
Is it for you?
You’ll enjoy it if you like
- early science fiction
- invasion stories told from the ground
- recognisable places made unfamiliar
Read for the contrast between recognisable geography and unfamiliar danger. The first-person account keeps much of the wider event out of view.
Things You May Not Know About The war of the worlds
- The first cylinder lands at Horsell Common. Wells anchors the initial encounter in a real Surrey setting.
- The narrator's brother has his own account. Episodes involving him widen the view of the evacuation.
About this edition
Read the Project Gutenberg source record for edition details. The Freebookia PDF has 113 pages. The EPUB adjusts to your reading settings.
Get “The war of the worlds”
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