HERBERT GEORGE WELLS was born on 21 September 1866, in Bromley, England. In 1874, Wells, the son of domestic helpers-turned-shopkeepers, had an accident that left him bedridden for months. It was during this time that an avid reader was born. His father would bring him books from the local library and Wells would spend hours devouring the written word. Later, when his mother returned to working as a maidservant in a country house in Sussex, Wells found himself in the owner's magnificent library, immersed in the works of stalwarts like Jonathan Swift, Charles Dickens, Sir Thomas More, Plato, Daniel Defoe and others. As a teenager, Wells worked as a draper's assistant but eventually quit. Later, he won a scholarship to the Normal School of Science (later, the Royal College) where he learned about astronomy, biology, chemistry, and physics, among other subjects. All through, Wells nursed the secret desire to become a writer someday. In 1895, following the publication of The Time Machine, Wells became an overnight sensation. The story of an English scientist developing a time travel machine earned him the title of Father of Futurism. Wells' successive books, often termed as 'scientific romances' included The Island of Doctor Moreau (1896), The Invisible Man (1897) and The War of the Worlds (1898) Wells' works reflected the need for a society that flourished on the ideas and principles of global socialism. Published in 1920, The Outline of History is regarded as Wells' best-selling work. A champion of social and political ideas, he also ran for Parliament as a Labour Party candidate between 1922 and 192 The visionary author, sociologist, journalist, and historian breathed his last on 13 August 1946, aged 79.
One of the founders of innovative science fiction novels, H.G. Wells was as taken up with the real world as his imaginary realm. Dissatisfied with the quality of history books at the end of World War I, the writer began penning his own history of the world. First published in 1922, A Short History of the World presents a groundbreaking study of the civilisation from the origins of the Earth—spanning the Neolithic Era, the rise of Judaism, the Golden Age of Athens, Christ’s life, the great discovery of America—to the consequences of World War I. Inspired by Wells’s The Outline of History (1919)—a work in three volumes, beginning with Prehistory and following the world’s significant events through World War I—this condensed work chronicles the physical, intellectual and spiritual evolution of the human race. Wells adopts a Darwinian approach and avoids presenting history within a politicised framework. Passionately told, A Short History of the World remains an evergreen classic.
