The War of the Worlds
by H. G. Wells
'The War of the Worlds' Summary
After heavy firing from the common and damage to the town from the heat-ray which suddenly erupts in the late afternoon, the Narrator takes his wife to safety in nearby Leatherhead, where his cousin lives, using a rented, two-wheeled horse cart; he then returns to Woking to return the cart when in the early morning hours, a violent thunderstorm erupts. On the road during the height of the storm, he has his first terrifying sight of a fast-moving Martian fighting-machine; in a panic, he crashes the horse cart, barely escaping detection. He discovers the Martians have assembled towering three-legged "fighting-machines" (tripods), each armed with a heat-ray and a chemical weapon: the poisonous "black smoke". These tripods have wiped out the army units positioned around the cylinder and attacked and destroyed most of Woking. Taking shelter in his house, the Narrator sees moving through his garden a fleeing artilleryman, who later tells the Narrator of his experiences and mentions that another cylinder has landed between Woking and Leatherhead, which means the Narrator is now cut off from his wife. The two try to escape via Byfleet just after dawn, but are separated at the Shepperton to Weybridge Ferry during a Martian afternoon attack on Shepperton.
One of the Martian fighting-machines is brought down in the River Thames by artillery as the Narrator and countless others try to cross the river into Middlesex, and the Martians retreat to their original crater. This gives the authorities precious hours to form a defence-line covering London. After the Martians' temporary repulse, the Narrator is able to float down the Thames in a boat toward London, stopping at Walton, where he first encounters the curate, his companion for the coming weeks.
Book Details
Language
EnglishOriginal Language
EnglishPublished In
1898Genre/Category
Tags/Keywords
Author
H. G. Wells
England
He was most prominent as a forward-looking, even prophetic social critic who devoted his literary talents to the development of a progressive vision on a global scale. A futurist, he wrote a number of...
More on H. G. WellsDownload eBooks
Listen/Download Audiobook
- Select Speed
Related books
The Triumph of the Scarlet Pimpernel by Emma Orczy
The Triumph of the Scarlet Pimpernel, first published in 1922, is a book in the series about the Scarlet Pimpernel's adventures by Baroness Orczy. Aga...
Mauprat by George Sand
Bernard Mauprat was raised by lawless brigands and knows no other way of life until age 17. Then everything changes for him when his cousin Edmee is t...
New Bodies for Old by Maurice Renard
It tells the story of a wealthy businessman who seeks to transfer his consciousness into a new, younger body. However, things take a dark turn when hi...
The Female American by Unca Eliza Winkfield
It tells the story of a young woman named Unca Eliza Winkfield who is raised by Native Americans after being abandoned as a child. The novel follows h...
Noli Me Tangere (The Social Cancer) by José Rizal
Noli Me Tángere is an 1887 novel by José Rizal during the colonization of the Philippines by the Spanish Empire, to describe perceived inequities of t...
Ships That Pass in the Night by Beatrice Harraden
This short novel by Beatrice Harraden, who was known for her work as a suffragist, was a bestseller in its time. In it, teacher and activist Bernardin...
From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne
One of the earliest examples of literature written in the science fiction genre, From the Earth to the Moon is a part of the Voyages Extraordinaires s...
Zwanzigtausend Meilen unter'm Meer by Jules Verne
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, French original title Vingt mille lieues sous les mers , is a 1869-1870 novel by the French writer Jules Verne with the...
The Red Lamp by Mary Roberts Rinehart
The Red Lamp is a fascinating mystery about a haunted house. William A. Porter, professor of English, inherits a large seaside house from his Uncle Ho...
Lost Illusions: Two Poets by Honoré de Balzac
In the captivating world of Honoré de Balzac's Lost Illusions: Two Poets, we are introduced to the contrasting lives of two aspiring poets, Lucien Cha...
Reviews for The War of the Worlds
No reviews posted or approved, yet...