The War of the Worlds

Publisher Marketing: No one would have believed in the last years of the nineteenth century that this world was being watched keenly and closely by intelligences greater than man's and yet as mortal as his own; that as men busied themselves about their various concerns they were scrutinised and studied, perhaps almost as narrowly as a man with a microscope might scrutinise the transient creatures that swarm and multiply in a drop of water. With infinite complacency men went to and fro over this globe about their little affairs, serene in their assurance of their empire over matter. It is possible that the infusoria under the microscope do the same. No one gave a thought to the older worlds of space as sources of human danger, or thought of them only to dismiss the idea of life upon them as impossible or improbable. It is curious to recall some of the mental habits of those departed days. At most terrestrial men fancied there might be other men upon Mars, perhaps inferior to themselves and ready to welcome a missionary enterprise. Yet across the gulf of space, minds that are to our minds as ours are to those of the beasts that perish, intellects vast and cool and unsympathetic, regarded this earth with envious eyes, and slowly and surely drew their plans against us. And early in the twentieth century came the great disillusionment. Review Citations: Audio File Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy 12/01/2008 pg. 33 (EAN 9780792750000, Compact Disc) Kliatt 07/01/2006 pg. 56 (EAN 9780753124703, Compact Disc) Wilson Fiction Catalog 01/01/2006 pg. 971 (EAN 9781590171585, Hardcover) Wilson Senior High Core Col 01/01/2007 pg. 831 (EAN 9781590171585, Hardcover) Wilson Fiction Catalog 01/01/2010 pg. 976 (EAN 9781590171585, Hardcover) Wilson Middle/Junior Hi Catalo 01/01/2009 pg. 1039 (EAN 9781590171585, Hardcover) Wilson Senior High Core Col 01/01/2011 pg. 1084 (EAN 9781590171585, Hardcover) Ingram Advance 06/01/2005 pg. 101 (EAN 9780141441030, Paperback) Ingram Children's Advance 07/01/2005 pg. 71 (EAN 9781416903680, Paperback) Library Journal 08/01/1995 (EAN 9780192828262, Paperback) Hornbook Guide to Children 07/01/2001 pg. 102 (EAN 9780688131371, Hardcover) Hornbook Guide to Children 01/01/2002 pg. 102 (EAN 9780688131371, Hardcover) Library Journal 05/01/2001 pg. 133 (EAN 9780786407804, Library Binding) Reference and Research Bk News 08/01/2001 pg. 239 (EAN 9780786407804, Library Binding) Hornbook Guide to Children 01/01/1991 (EAN 9780679810476, Paperback) Hornbook Guide to Children 01/01/2006 pg. 65 (EAN 9780679810476, Paperback) New York Times Book Review 12/16/2007 pg. 16 (EAN 9780486295060, Paperback) Entertainment Weekly 07/29/2005 pg. 74 (EAN 9780425050750, Mass Market Paperbound) Contributor Bio:  Wells, H G The son of a professional cricketer and a lady's maid, H. G. Wells (1866-1946) served apprenticeships as a draper and a chemist's assistant before winning a scholarship to the prestigious Normal School of Science in London. While he is best remembered for his groundbreaking science fiction novels, including "The Time Machine", "The War of the Worlds", "The Invisible Man", and "The Island of Doctor Moreau", Wells also wrote extensively on politics and social matters and was one of the foremost public intellectuals of his day.