The World Set Free

Born in 1866 in Bromley, England, to a poor family, Herbert George Wells began as an apprentice at the age of 14, but educated himself on his own, received a scholarship (1884), and specialized in biology at the University of London, from which he graduated in 1888. Having become a teacher, but still without money, he will ask journalism for additional resources. His first book is a work of biology, his second a novel: La Machine à explorer le temps (1895), which was an immediate success. One of the pioneers, with Jules Verne, of the novel of anticipation, Wells is also a polemist, believing in progress through science. These trends are reflected throughout a work that includes nearly 50 novels, tales, short stories and essays. H. G. Wells died in London on August 13, 1946.