A Preface to H G Wells

John Hammond offers an introduction to the life and work of H G Wells which is of interest and value to both the student and the general reader. Although Wells is studied at undergradute level there is no introductory text available as yet, instead students can only consult full length detailed biographies. John Hammond provides a concise overview allowing the student to read Wells with greater critical appreciation and to undertand the main areas of discussion and disagreement concerning the author.

John R. Hammond

List of illustrationsPrefaceAcknowledgementsIntroductionPART ONE: THE WRITER AND HIS SETTINGFamily treeChronological tableCHAPTER 1: HIS LIFE AND TIMESEarly yearsThe studentJournalism and early fictionThe middle yearsThe later yearsCHAPTER 2: WELLS AND HIS WORLDThe influence of placeThe town of his birthTown and countryA PREFACE TO H. G. WELLSThe London of his fictionThe autobiographical novelsWells's prose stylePART TWO : CRITICAL COMMENTARYThe science fiction of the 1890sThe social novelsThe narrative voiceClassical and romanticWells and modernismUtopia and dystopiaThe novel as myth: The Time MachineTono-Btmgay: the divided selfPART THREE: REFERENCE SECTIONWells and his circle: sh ort biographiesA Wells geographyWells's literary reputationFurther reading and refermceIndexIndex of Well's Works