Read by Joy Chan

Running Time:10:24:56 in 1 MP3 Audio CD

Genre(s): Culture & Heritage Fiction, Romance

Ann Veronica was a controversial book detailing the development of a naive schoolgirl into a "New Woman". When it was published, the Spectator described it as a "poisonous book ... capable of poisoning the minds of those who read it." Although it is unlikely to offend modern listeners in this way, this novel addresses many feminist issues that are still relevant today. 

Read by Krista Zaleski

Running Time:03:49:20 in 1 MP3 Audio CD

Genre(s): Literary Fiction, Single Author Collections

Twelve of H. G. Wells' early short stories (1894-1925) originally printed in various magazines and papers. His earlier works delve into the human condition, looked at through a humorous lens. Love, romance, infidelity, parenthood and more are the subjects of the various stories, often told with a wry twist of humor. 

Read by Alisson Veldhuis, Christopher Tayler, Daniel George, 

Bill Boerst, Elena, Felicity C, Caeliveres, V. Lobacham and Calm Dragon

Running Time:10:11:01 in 1 MP3 Audio CD

Genre(s): General Fiction, Political Science

H. G. Wells's proposal for social reform was the formation of a world state, a concept that would increasingly preoccupy him throughout the remainder of his life. One of his most ambitious early attempts at portraying a world state was A Modern Utopia (1905). A Modern Utopia was intended as a hybrid between fiction and 'philosophical discussion'. Like most utopists, he has indicated a series of modifications which in his opinion would increase the aggregate of human happiness. Basically, Wells' idea of a perfect world would be if everyone were able to live a happy life. This book is written with an intimate knowledge of former ideal commonwealths and is a conscious attempt to describe a utopia that is not utopian.

Read by Kristine Bekere

Running Time:13:51:48 in 1 MP3 Audio CD

Genre(s): *Non-fiction, History

A Short History of the World is a non-fictional historic work by English author H. G. Wells, largely inspired by Wells's earlier 1919 work The Outline of History. The book summarizes the scientific knowledge of the time regarding the history of Earth and life. It starts with its origins, goes on to explain the development of the Earth and life on Earth, reaching primitive thought and the development of humankind from the Cradle of Civilization. The book ends with the outcome of the First World War, the Russian famine of 1921, and the League of Nations in 1922. In 1934 Albert Einstein recommended the book for the study of history as a means of interpreting progress in civilization. 

Read by Dennis Blak, Lucretia B., A. J. Carroll and Mike Pelton

Running Time:03:35:27 in 1 MP3 Audio CD

Genre(s): Science Fiction

Set in London in the early 22nd century, this novella depicts the troubles of two lovers, Denton and Elizabeth. Elizabeth is a well-to-do woman with many connections, but Denton is only a middle-class worker. Elizabeth's father strongly disapproves of the match, and orders a hypnotist to hypnotize his daughter into thinking that she is in love with another. When the scheme is found out, Denton and Elizabeth elope, leading to a string of events that take them from the top of London society to horrifying depths of "underneath" London.

Read by James Christopher

Running Time:2:10:18 in 1 MP3 Audio CD

Genre(s): Fantastic Fiction

This story is of a time beyond the memory of man, before the beginning of history.

Read by John Trevithick, Christopher Tayler and Topaz

Running Time:8:31:20 in 1 MP3 Audio CD

Genre(s): Philosophy, Political Science, Psychology

Wells considered this book one of his most important, a natural follow-up to such works as his Man of the Year Million and The Time Machine. His goal was to get people to think and act in new ways. The book starts with a look at how humans get along socially and how they carry out their business ventures. It then discusses how these elements influence others, such as politics, the world of work, and education. H. G. tried to make clear how the current social order was disintegrating without preparing another to take its place. He then traced the roots of democracy, which in its present state he saw as unworkable. Instead, he proposed a new republic. He also critiqued modern warfare.

Read by Kevin S., NarratorJ, Frank Duncan, Rita Boutros, Kelly S. Taylor, Michael Fassio and Tracie Ducit

Running Time:08:08:08 in 1 MP3 Audio CD

Genre(s): General Fiction, Humorous Fiction

Bealby is the comical story of the escapade of a thirteen-year-old boy when he rebels against his placement as a steward's-room boy in the great house of an estate named Shonts (his stepfather, Mr. Darling, is a gardener there) and flees—not, however, before thoroughly upsetting a weekend party where the nouveau riche couple renting Shonts is entertaining the Lord Chancellor.

Read in English by Foon; Larry Wilson; D. Wood; Scotty Smith;

 Graham Scott; Elisabeth; Greg Giordano; Gentle Jim; Jordan Khoriaty; Rowan Etzel; Keir; Christopher Lawson

Running Time:06:23:30 in 1 MP3 Audio CD

Genre(s): Essays & Short Works

Although best known for his works of science fiction, social commentary and history, H.G. Wells here gives us humorous and light-hearted pieces on a wide variety of intriguing topics from chess to death. Each essay is a gem of wit and delight. 

Read by Mark F. Smith

Running Time:0:45:13 in 1 MP3 Audio CD

Genre(s): Games

H.G. Wells had so much fun playing with his children on the floor of their playroom, he decided to write a jovial little book to inspire other parents in their pursuit of quality time with the kids. While the raw materials available from hobby stores of his day were woefully short of the variety and quality of what can be bought easily now, he and his sons created their own worlds to rule. This short work describes two games of imagination played out upon the floor of his home - an archipelago of islands, and a thoroughly integrated city, conveniently organized with two mayoral positions for his sons “G.P.W.” and “F.R.W.” While the toy people appearing in their worlds were often of martial nature, Wells decided to leave description of military games to a later book: “Little Wars.”

Read by William Tomcho, Mike Pelton, T Michael Burke and V. Lobacham

Running Time:4:34:33 in 1 MP3 Audio CD

Genre(s): *Non-fiction, Religion

Wells wrote in his book God the Invisible King that his idea of God did not draw upon the traditional religions of the world: "This book sets out as forcibly and exactly as possible the religious belief of the writer. [Which] is a profound belief in a personal and intimate God." Later in the work he aligns himself with a "renascent or modern religion ... neither atheist nor Buddhist nor Mohammedan nor Christian ... [that] he has found growing up in himself." 

Read by Steve McDaniel, Lewis, Felicity C, Richard Kilmer, Bear Schacht and Mike Pelton

Running Time:9:50:23 in 1 MP3 Audio CD

Genre(s): Science Fiction

William ("Willie") is a student living in the British town of Clayton. As a Socialist, he tries to move power from the upper class to the working class. Interestingly, in a fictitious confrontation Britain declares war on Germany. Willie falls in love with Nettie, but when she elopes with an upper-class man, Willie resolves to kill them both. Throughout the novel there is present in the sky a large comet which gives off a green glow. As Willie prepares to shoot the lovers, two battleships appear and begin shelling the coast, causing Willie to nearly lose his targets. As the comet enters the atmosphere, it gives off a green gas which envelopes everyone including Willie, who falls asleep. Willie wakes up a changed man. He is able to reason so clearly that he realizes the foolishness of his plan for revenge. Other people have changed too. Our hero marvels at how humankind has risen to new levels of vision and understanding.

Read by John Schuurman

Running Time:04:21:49 in 1 MP3 Audio CD

Genre(s): Political Science

In the Fourth Year is a collection H.G. Wells assembled in the spring of 1918 from essays he had recently published discussing the problem of establishing lasting peace when World War I ended. It is mostly devoted to plans for the League of Nations and the discussion of post-war politics.

Read by Jordan Russell, Gary J. Conover, Gini Rosario, 

F. Irenze, Eli Bishop, Torre, Noel O'Kelley, Daniel Titus and Kalen

Running Time:20:32:37 in 1 MP3 Audio CD

Genre(s): Children's Fiction, Satire

This is satirical look at the English educational system and society in the early twentieth century and the effect of World War I on them by following the lives of Peter Stublands and the orphaned Joan. It is a sad indictment, and Wells includes "An Apology of a Schoolmaster" to explain the constraints of the system.

Read by Anthony Ogus

Running Time:11:55:06 in 1 MP3 Audio CD

Genre(s): Culture & Heritage Fiction, General Fiction

Arthur Kipps, an orphaned draper’s assistant of humble means, unexpectedly inherits a large sum of money and that is when all his troubles begin. Wanting to marry above his social class, he has to learn how to lead a genteel life, but that is too much for him. You would think that his decision to revert to Ann, his boyhood love, would solve his problems and bring him back to earth and contentment. But even now the consequences of being wealthy are not easy to live with.

Read by Mark F. Smith

Running Time:1:44:27 in 1 MP3 Audio CD

Genre(s): War & Military, Games

A Game for Boys from twelve years of age to one hundred and fifty and for that more intelligent sort of girl who likes boys' games and books. With an Appendix on Kriegspiel.

Miniature wargaming got its start with the publication in 1913 of this thoroughly entertaining little account of how H.G. Wells, with certain of his friends, took their childhood toys and turned play into acceptable middle-aged sport by subjecting the exercise to the civilizing influence of actual rules.

Read by Anthony Ogus

Running Time:07:47:25 in 1 MP3 Audio CD

Genre(s): General Fiction, Humorous Fiction, Satire

The teaching profession, science and politics in late 19th century England. H. G. Wells’ humorous early novel, drawing on his own life, shows how these – as well as involvement in spiritualism – have to compete with love.

Read by Brian Powell, Mark Nelson, Marcus Pfeifer, Daniel Garcia,

 Kevin S., Jim Dykstra, Chad Horner, David Brent and Anonymous

Running Time:08:35:25 in 1 MP3 Audio CD

Genre(s): Fantastic Fiction, Science Fiction

In the summer of 1921, a disenchanted journalist escapes the rat race for a drive in the country. But Mr. Barnstaple's trip exceeds his expectations when he and other motorists are swept 3,000 years into the future. The inadvertent time travelers arrive in a world that corresponds exactly to Barnstaple's ideals: a utopian state, free of crime, poverty, war, disease, and bigotry. Unfettered by the constraints of government and organized religion, the citizens lead rich, meaningful lives, passed in pursuit of their creative fancies. Barnstaple's traveling companions, however, quickly contrive a scheme to remake the utopia in the image of their twentieth-century world. 

Read by Peter Eastman

Running Time:17:10:18 in 1 MP3 Audio CD

Genre(s): Literary Fiction, War & Military Fiction, Published 1900 onward

"Mr. Britling Sees It Through" is H. G. Wells' attempt to make sense of World War I. It begins with a lighthearted account of an American visiting England for the first time, but the outbreak of war changes everything. Day by day and month by month, Wells chronicles the unfolding events and public reaction as witnessed by the inhabitants of one house in rural Essex. Each of the characters tries in a different way to keep their bearings in a world suddenly changed beyond recognition. This book was published in 1916 while the war was still in progress, so no clear resolution was possible. Wells did not know how long the war would last or which side would ultimately win, but he hoped that somehow, something good might eventually come of it.

Read by Graham Scott, Greg Giordano, Timur Khamzin, 

Colleen McMahon, Jake Buholtz and Larry Wilson

Running Time:02:14:38 in 1 MP3 Audio CD

Genre(s): Humorous Fiction, Published 1800 -1900, Essays & Short Works

Select Conversations with an Uncle, published in 1895, was H.G. Wells' first literary publication in book form. It consists of reports of twelve conversations between a fictional witty uncle who has returned to London from South Africa with "a certain affluence," as well as two other conversations (one on aestheticism that takes place in a train, titled "A Misunderstood Artist," and another on physiognomy, titled "The Man with a Nose") 

Read by Richard Kilmer

Running Time:08:23:50 in 1 MP3 Audio CD

Genre(s): Science Fiction

Five short Science Fiction stories.

The Crystal Egg

The Star

A Story of the Stone Age

A Story of the Days to Come

The Man Who Could Work Miracles - A Pantoum in Prose

Read by Delmar H Dolbier, William Tomcho and Jules Hawryluk

Running Time:15:11:29 in 1 MP3 Audio CD

Genre(s): General Fiction

Tono-Bungay is a realist semi-autobiographical novel. It is narrated by George Ponderevo, a science student who is drafted in to help with the promotion of Tono-Bungay, a harmful stimulant disguised as a miraculous cure-all, the creation of his uncle Edward. The quack remedy Tono-Bungay seems to have been based upon the patent medicines Carter's Little Liver Pills and Dr. Williams' Pink Pills for Pale People.... As the tonic prospers, George experiences a swift rise in social status, elevating him to riches and opportunities that he had never imagined, nor indeed desired. The novel displays Edward's social climbing satirically, and also George's discomfort at rising in social class. The hero's personal life is narrated with unusual frankness for an Edwardian novel.... The empire eventually overextends itself and then collapses. George tries unsuccessfully to save his uncle and eventually ends up designing battleships for the highest bidder.

Read by Peter Yearsley

Running Time:18:02:30 in 1 MP3 Audio CD

Genre(s): Single Author Collections

A collection of Wells' short stories, with a short introductory essay by the author- "Essentially it is a miscellany of inventions, many of which were very pleasant to write; and its end is more than attained if some of them are refreshing and agreeable to read. I have now re-read them all, and I am glad to think I wrote them. I like them, but I cannot tell how much the association of old happiness's gives them a flavour for me. I make no claims for them and no apology; they will be read as long as people read them." (From the author's Introduction.)

H.G. Wells is best known as a writer of science fiction; "The Country of the Blind and Other Stories" is a collection only incidentally touched by science.

Introduction

The Jilting of Jane

The Cone

The Stolen Bacillus

The Flowering of the Strange Orchid

In the Avu Observatory

Aepyornis Island

The Remarkable Case of Davidson's Eyes

The Lord of the Dynamos

The Moth

The Treasure in the Forest

The Story of the late Mr. Elvesham

Under the Knife

The Sea Raiders

The Obliterated Man

The Plattner Story

The Red Room

The Purple Pileus

A Slip Under the Microscope

The Crystal Egg

The Star

The Man Who Could Work Miracles

A Vision of Judgement

Jimmy Goggles the god

Miss Winchelsea's Heart

A Dream of Armageddon

The Valley of Spiders

The New Accelerator

The Truth about Pyecraft

The Magic Shop

The Empire of the Ants

The Door in the Wall

The Country of the Blind

The Beautiful Suit

Read by David Wales

Running Time:01:02:03 in 1 MP3 Audio CD

Genre(s): Modern

The Discovery of the Future is a 1902 philosophical lecture by H. G. Wells that argues for the knowability of the future. It was originally delivered to the Royal Institution on January 24, 1902. Wells begins by distinguishing between "two divergent types of mind," one that judges and attaches importance principally to what has happened in the past and one that judges and attaches importance principally to what will happen in the future. To the former he attributes the adjectives "legal or submissive," "passive," and "oriental," and to the latter the adjectives "legislative, creative, organizing, or masterful," and "active," calling it "a more modern and much less abundant type of mind."... Confessing himself to be among "those who believe entirely in the forces behind the individual" rather than in individuals themselves as determining causes, Wells argues that there is "no reason why we should not aspire to, and discover and use, safe and serviceable, generalizations upon countless issues in the human destiny." Wells devotes the last part of his text to speculations about "the question what is to come after man," considering it "the most persistently fascinating and the most insoluble question in the whole world." He concludes with a statement of personal faith "in the coherency and purpose in the world and in the greatness of human destiny."

Read by J. Olpecre, Jacquelyn Bengfort, EmmaS, 

Andrea Kotzer, Judy Derby, John Burlinson, Matt Pierard and R.J. Siva

Running Time:05:00:58 in 1 MP3 Audio CD

Genre(s): Science Fiction, Single Author Collections

A collection of short stories by H. G. Wells, author of "The Time Machine" and "War of the Worlds". The science fiction master ranges over a variety of topics, each original and unexpected. Included in this collection is "The Country of the Blind" where a man with sight hopes to make himself king. In other stories a stranger offers to sell diamonds on the street, a magic door appears requires a sacrifice to go through it, a demon machine tries to become a god, an engineer finds an engineering solution to a love triangle, and a man dreams or does he? 

Read by Mark F. Smith

Running Time:8:02:44 in 1 MP3 Audio CD

Genre(s): Science Fiction

Britain won the Moon Race! Decades before Neal Armstrong took his "giant leap for mankind" two intrepid adventurers from Lympne, England, journeyed there using not a rocket, but an antigravity coating.

Mr. Bedford, who narrates the tale, tells of how he fell in with eccentric inventor Mr. Cavor, grew to believe in his researches, helped him build a sphere for traveling in space, and then partnered with him in an expedition to the Moon.

Read by Alex C. Telander

Running Time:6:16:39 in 1 MP3 Audio CD

Genre(s): Science Fiction

Two stuffy English scientists, always looking to further their scientific knowledge, create a substance called Herakleophorbia, which in its fourth incarnation – known as Herakleophorbia IV – has the special ability of making things increase greatly in size. As the scientists begin experimentation on some chicks, the substance is misused by some “country folk” who don’t take it seriously and soon Herakleophorbia IV is running rampant throughout England and then across the globe, creating giant plants and animals that wreak havoc on the land and then the people. Then the first giant babies are revealed and for the first time humanity has to contend with the existence of a new race of giant people. How humanity deals with this shocking new creation is revealed in The Food of the Gods and How it Came to Earth. 

Read by Adrian Praetzellis

Running Time:9:08:39 in 1 MP3 Audio CD

Genre(s): Published 1900 onward

A funny and touching account of the imaginative Mr. Polly who, bored and trapped in his conventional life, makes a U-turn –- and changes everything.

Read by Alex Foster

Running Time:4:54:05 in 1 MP3 Audio CD

Genre(s): Science Fiction

The Invisible Man (1897) is one of the most famous science fiction novels of all time. Written by H.G. Wells (1866-1946), it tells the story of a scientist who discovers the secret of invisibility and uses it on himself. The story begins as the Invisible Man, with a bandaged face and a heavy coat and gloves, takes a train to lodge in a country inn whilst he tries to discover the antidote and make himself visible again. The book inspired several films and is notable for its vivid descriptions of the invisible man--no mean feat, given that you can't see him!

Read by Bob Neufeld

Running Time:04:54:00 in 1 MP3 Audio CD

Genre(s): Action & Adventure Fiction, Fantastic Fiction

In this classic of H. G. Wells, Edward Prendick is shipwrecked on a beautiful island in the South Seas and is drawn into the wild and cruel world of Doctor Moreau, who aspires to play God with animals. 

 

Read by Anthony Ogus

Running Time:16:41:34 in 1 MP3 Audio CD

Genre(s): General Fiction

About a political idealist who changes his colours and engages in a sexual adventure, this novel by H.G. Wells generated controversy when it was first published in 1911.

Read by Peter Eastman

Running Time:12:48:56 in 1 MP3 Audio CD

Genre(s): General Fiction, Romance

H. G. Wells is best known for his science fiction, but some of his greatest works were in other genres. The Passionate Friends is a love story. It also is a story about dreams, despair, jealousy, sex, the struggle against social convention, the future of civilization, and much much more. It is written by a father to his son, "not indeed to the child you are now, but to the man you are going to be." He writes it so that one day, perhaps when he is dead, his grown son can read it and rediscover him as a friend and equal. In the process, he tries to make sense of a lifetime's experiences and distill some kind of wisdom from them. It is quite simply a beautiful book, both inspiring and heartbreaking

Read by Penny Witt, Nancy Beard, Grace Wereley-Bross, Jeremy Clark, Ron Altman, 

Terry Kroenung, Ben Tucker, Christine Rottger, Yoganandh T, Michael Maggs,

 Robert Tunick, Andrew Gaunce and The Second

Running Time:08:42:30 in 1 MP3 Audio CD

Genre(s): Science Fiction

A collection of short science fiction stories, written by H.G. Wells.

Read by Thomas A. Copeland

Running Time:04:35:41 in 1 MP3 Audio CD

Genre(s): Humorous Fiction, Fantasy Fiction

A mermaid contrives to have herself "rescued from drowning" and adopted by a respectable family on the English coast. Her motive, which she conceals for quite a while, is to win the heart of a handsome but irresponsible young man whom she glimpsed when he went swimming in the Pacific. Introduced into polite society as an invalid, she proves to be intelligent and charming, but as an immortal she regards the concerns of the English gentry with critical detachment. The young man, who is already engaged, falls under her spell and begins to doubt the importance of the political career into which his fiancée has been directing him. There are, after all, "other dreams." But does his new relationship offer him any real future? 

Read by A. J. Carroll, Christine Dufour, Mostafa Razavi,

 Mike Pelton, Christopher Maust, Karl Henning, Danny Hauger, Matthew Wall and L D Hamilton

Running Time:7:24:07 in 1 MP3 Audio CD

Genre(s): Published 1900 onward

Richard Hardy, a member of the British gentry, tries to resolve problems in his marriage as he travels with a psychiatrist. The book is to a great extent autobiographical. H. G. had read some brilliantly composed articles by a writer who wrote under the name Rebecca West. In one piece she called H. G. "pseudo-scientific." He contacted her and asked what she meant. When they met for lunch, it was the beginning of a very intense and volatile relationship. Soon she was pregnant, so he divided his time between her and his wife Jane with their two sons. After World War I, Rebecca became more demanding. She wanted him to divorce Jane. Finally, in 1923 Wells told Rebecca she should either get serious about her writing or break off their relationship. The criticism stung her. After a speaking tour in the U.S., she returned newly independent, and the two went their separate ways. In this novel H. G. based the character Martin on Rebecca, who both mesmerized and repelled him.

Read by James Christopher, Tim Perkins, Tammy Sanders, 

Kara Shallenberg , Sean McGaughey, Kathy Jacobs, 

Ryan Sutter, J. M. Smallheer, Mark Nelson, Zachary Brewster-Geisz,

 Robert Flach, Nat Johnson, M B, Mark Nelson and Arouet

Running Time:8:14:09 in 1 MP3 Audio CD

Genre(s): Science Fiction

The Sleeper Awakes is a dystopian novel about a man who sleeps for two hundred years, waking up in a completely transformed London, where, because of compound interest, he has become the richest man in the world. He has been the famous Sleeper for centuries. A fanatic socialist, the main character awakes to see his nightmares realized, and the future revealed to him in all its horrors and malformities. The people adore him, and their masters - the supervisors of his legacy who rule in his name - do not want him breathing. 

Read by Pamela Nagami, Lauren Randall, Bill Mosley, James White, Eddie Kigozi, Eric Leuschner, DJRickyV, Snowdrop58, Beth Thomas , Benjamin Davis, Saint Ananda

Running Time:04:52:59 in 1 MP3 Audio CD

Genre(s): Science Fiction

A collection of 15 humorous short stories by the original master of speculative fiction: H. G. Wells. This was the first collection of short stories published by the author, and contains a mixture of fantasy, science-fiction and humour! 

The Stolen Bacillus

The Flowering of the Strange Orchid

In the Avu Observatory

Triumphs of a Taxidermist

A Deal in Ostriches

Through a Window

The Temptation of Harringay

The Flying Man

The Diamond Maker

Aepyornis Island

The Remarkable Case of Davidson’s Eyes

The Lord of the Dynamos

The Hammerpond Park Burglary

A Moth - Genus Novo

The Treasure in the Forest

Read by Mark F. Smith

Running Time:3:39:09 in 1 MP3 Audio CD

Genre(s): Action & Adventure Fiction, Science Fiction

Surely the Time Traveler threw great dinner parties! His guests were treated to a once-in-forever trial of a miniature time machine - an exquisite miniature that acted so flawlessly as to appear to be stage magic. That his guests did not believe the explanation - the machine vanished into the mists of the future - was patent. Still, a couple of the more thoughtful had reservations about branding the demonstration an outright trickery. And what about the nearly-complete full-size Machine in the Traveler's laboratory?

Read by Frank Booker, Delmar H Dolbier, William Tomcho, 

Theresa Sheridan, Fred DeBerardinis, Heather Hamtil and Corinna Schultz

Running Time:10:52:01 in 1 MP3 Audio CD

Genre(s): Action & Adventure Fiction, Science Fiction, War & Military Fiction

War in the Air was written during a prolific time in H. G. Wells's writing career. Having withdrawn from British politics to spend more time on his own ideas, he published twelve books between 1901 and 1911, including this one. while many British citizens were surprised by the advent of World War I, Wells had already written prophetically about such a conflict. War in the Air predicted use of airplanes in modern war. 

Read by Cliff Stone

Running Time:06:29:21 in 1 MP3 Audio CD

Genre(s): Science Fiction

An original masterpiece of alien invasion, The War of the Worlds (1898) conjures a terrifying race of Martians who devastate the Earth and feed on their human victims while their voracious vegetation, the red weed, spreads over the ruined planet. After the novel’s hero finds himself trapped in what is left of London, despairing at the destruction of human civilization, he discovers that life on Earth is more resilient than he had imagined.

Read by Peter Thomlinson

Running Time:02:40:42 in 1 MP3 Audio CD

Genre(s): *Non-fiction

About the First World War, and the author's conclusions. Whether or not you agree with these articles/essays, H G Wells does make many valid points about the war, and it's effect on people, especially in Britain. I suppose he cannot be blamed for getting the concept and the title wrong, in hindsight, as there were barely 22 years to pass before the Second World War with Germany began. Wells highlights the corruption both in Britain and Germany during the terrible conflict, and the humanitarian price which had to be paid. He felt it his duty to keep people informed, at a time when only newspapers were available. It was a period, around 1914-1918, that pre-dated radio and TV, and the mass communication which is available to us all today. Historically I believe it stands as a testament to that period.

Read by Nick Gallant, Patti Cunningham, MaryAnn Speigal, Neeru Iyer, Valli andTom Watts

Running Time:6:00:12 in 1 MP3 Audio CD

Genre(s): Humorous Fiction

The Wheels of Chance - A Bicycling Idyll follows the adventures of a draper's assistant who, having brought an ancient bicycle, sets off on a 2 week tour of the countryside. And his world will never be the same again.

Read by Mary Bard

Running Time:04:59:25 in 1 MP3 Audio CD

Genre(s): Satire, Science Fiction

An other-worldly creature visits a small English village, and H. G. Wells uses humour and satire to convey some of the imperfections of Victorian society, as ‘angel’ and humans view each other with equal incomprehension.

Read by Adam Marsivich

Running Time:8:10:23 in 1 MP3 Audio CD

Genre(s): Science Fiction

The World Set Free is a novel published in 1914 by H. G. Wells. The book is considered a prophetical novel foretelling the advent of nuclear weapons.

A constant theme in Wells's work, such as his 1901 nonfiction book Anticipations, was the role of energy and technological advance as a determinant of human progress.

The novel opens: "The history of mankind is the history of the attainment of external power. Man is the tool-using, fire-making animal." Scientists of the day were well aware that the slow natural radioactive decay of elements like radium continues for thousands of years, and that while the rate of energy release is negligible, the total amount released is huge. Wells used this as the basis for his story.

Read by Charbelí Ramos Chávez, Jennifer Fournier, Shelly Tumbleson, John Burlinson, Pamela Nagami, Beth Thomas, DJRickyV, Mike Pelton, Scott Foster, Will Cooper and Doc Willett

Running Time:07:48:06 in 1 MP3 Audio CD

Genre(s): Science Fiction, Single Author Collections

Thirteen short stories by HG Wells, the master of speculative fiction! Included in this collection is "Mr Skelmersdale in Fairyland" where a man finds his way into fairyland where a fairy queen tries to seduce him away from his human fiancée. In other stories a ghost gets stuck and can't get back to the "other side", a man decides to try being a god for a few months, a magic shop sells "the real thing", a scientist sells time in a bottle, a body is stolen (while its owner is still alive) and a man dreams or does he? 

Filmer

The Magic Shop

The Valley of Spiders

The Truth about Pyecraft

Mr Skelmersdale in Fairyland

The Story of the Inexperienced Ghost

Jimmy Goggles the God

The New Accelerator

Mr Ledbetter's Vacation

The Stolen Body

Mr Brisher's Treasure

Miss Winchelsea's Heart

A Dream of Armageddon

Read by Lee Smalley

Running Time:06:03:01 in 1 MP3 Audio CD

Genre(s): Political Science

As an observer at the WASHINGTON CONFERENCE FOR THE LIMITATION OF ARMAMENTS held in 1921 and attended by the victorious nations of The Great War, the acclaimed author H. G. Wells wrote 29 short essays that were serialized in the New York World and other newspapers. This book is a collection of those essays. They are not a record or description of the Conference, but the impressions of one visitor. Wells noted that the failed League of Nations was the first American initiative toward an organized world peace, and in its absence “the American mind has produced this second experiment, which has been tried with the loosest of constitutions and the most severely defined and limited of aims. Instead of a world constitution we have had a world conversation.”

The essays relate “one observer’s conviction of how things can be done, and of how they need to be done, if our civilization is indeed to be rescued from the dangers that encompass it and set again upon the path of progress.” While history would not bear out all of Wells’ various expressions of optimism and pessimism, his vision of world peace nevertheless remains relevant today.