Herbert George Wells

Biography

Sometimes called the father of modern science fiction, H.G. Wells was born on September 21, 1866 in Bromley, Kent, England. His father, a professional cricket player and shopkeeper, and his mother, a former lady's maid, raised Wells with the idea that he would find a place in the work world that they were accustomed. He aspired to a different place in society.

When he was thirteen, he left school to become a draper's apprentice, a job his family expected would be proper for a boy of his station. The work repelled him, however. He worked briefly in a drugstore, returned for a stint as a draper's assistant, then finally found a job as a teacher's assistant in a grammar school. Education and academia suited him well. In 1884 he entered college with a scholarship to study biology. He was able to study under one of the great biology teachers of the time, Thomas Henry Huxley, and Wells graduated in 1888.

The writings of Jules Verne undoubtably influenced Wells, and he wrote his first novel, The Time Machine, partly in response to this new kind of literature that Verne produced. The story appeared in various forms in magazines from 1888 to 1894 and was released in its current form in 1895. The book was successful, and Wells did not need to teach or worry about money from that time on.

Wells' early novels continued in the science fiction mode of The Time Machine. The Island of Dr. Moreau (1896), The Invisible Man (1897) and The War Between the Worlds (1898) cemented his position within the genre. For many readers, these early novels are the extent of Wells' writing. He's the "time machine guy" or the "martian guy." Wells, however, wrote short stories, mainstream fiction and non-fiction essays his entire life, most of them espousing in some form or another his views on humanity, society and the direction he saw the world going. Some of these works were also science fictional in nature.

More biographical information along with numerous other links and resources about H.G. Wells can be found at http://www.bath.ac.uk/~lisjpo/wellsian.html

A complete bibliography can be found at http://www.bath.ac.uk/~lisjpo/biblio.htm and at http://members.tripod.com/~gwillick/biblio/HGWellsbib.html

The A&E website contains information on how to order their video biography of H.G. Wells at http://www.schoolroom.com/videos/v13531.htm

The H.G Wells Society web page can be found at http://www.rdg.ac.uk/~lhsjamse/wells/wells.htm.  Information about The Wellsian the official newsletter of the H.G. Wells Society can be found at http://www.rdg.ac.uk/~lhsjamse/wells/wellsian.htm

Information about Wells and copyrights can be found at http://www.rdg.ac.uk/~lhsjamse/wells/hgwcopy.htm

An H.G. Wells discussion group exists at http://www.rdg.ac.uk/~lhsjamse/wells/hgwcopy.htm

An article about H.G. Wells, entitled "H.G. Wells, the Poe of Science Fiction" can be found at http://www.nucleus.com/~dreamwvr/hg_wells.htm