Study notes: The War of the Worlds
A cylinder from Mars lands near London, and tripod machines with heat-rays begin wiping out towns. A narrator tries to survive and reach his wife as England falls. This is the book that started alien-invasion stories, and its ending is a famous surprise.
Themes
Human pride. Survival. Nature's hidden powers.
People to follow
The narrator, his brother, the curate, and the artilleryman.
Talk about
- How does Wells make the Martians frightening?
- What defeats the invaders?
- What is Wells saying about empires?
Public-domain text. First published in 1898; H. G. Wells died in 1946, so this text is in the public domain in the US, Canada, the EU and India. Summary and notes written by ViralScopeHub.