H.G. Wells

Herbert George (or H.G.) Wells was an English author and political philosopher, most famous for his science-fiction novels with this prophetic depictions of the triumphs of technology as well as the horrors of 20th-century warfare. Wells was born in Bromley, Kent, England in 1866 and educated at the University of London.

He worked as a drapers apprentice, tutor, bookkeeper and professional journalist until 1895 when he decided to become a full-time writer. In the next 50 years he produced more than 80 original works. His novel "The Time Machine" mixed science, action and political commentary. Later works in this genre are: "The Invisible Man" (1897), "The War of the Worlds" (1898) and "The Shape of Things to Come" (1933), each of these fantasies was made into a motion picture.

Wells fathered 4 children with his second wife, Amy Catherine Robbins.

He also wrote novels devoted to character delineation. Among these are "Kipps" (1905) and "The History of Mr. Polly" (1910), both of which depict members of the lower middle class and their confused and often humorous attempts to better themselves. Many of Well's other books can be categorized as thesis novels. After World War I, Wells wrote an immensely popular historical work, "The Outline of History", (2 vol. In 1920).

Throughout his long life Wells was deeply concerned with and wrote voluminously about the problems of contemporary civilization. For a time he was Fabian socialist. His later works were increasingly pessimistic, castigating world leaders of the period and expressing his doubts about the ability of humankind to survive.

Wells had diabetes and co-founded of the Diabetic Association in 1934, a foundation which is still the leading support for people with the disease in the U.K today. In 1946 at age 79, Wells died of an unspecified cause which is now believed to have been a heart attack. He was cremated and his ashes were scattered over the sea. A commemorative plaque still stands at his former home in Regent's Park.