Herbert George "H. G. " Wells (21 September 1866 – 13 August 1946) was an
English writer, now best known for his work in the
science fiction genre. He was also a prolific writer in many other genres, including contemporary novels, history, politics and social commentary, even writing textbooks and rules for war games. Wells is one person sometimes called "The Father of Science Fiction", as are
Jules Verne and
Hugo Gernsback. His most notable science fiction works include
The War of the Worlds,
The Time Machine,
The Invisible Man and
The Island of Doctor Moreau.
Wells's earliest specialised training was in biology, and his thinking on ethical matters took place in a specifically and fundamentally
Darwinian context. He was also from an early date an outspoken
socialist, often (but not always, as at the beginning of the
First World War) sympathising with
pacifist views. His later works became increasingly political and
didactic, and he sometimes indicated on official documents that his profession was that of "Journalist. " Most of his later novels were not science fiction. Some described lower-middle class life (
Kipps;
The History of Mr Polly), leading him to be touted as a worthy successor to
Charles Dickens, but Wells described a range of social strata and even attempted, in
Tono-Bungay (1909), a diagnosis of
English society as a whole.