The War of the Worlds H.G. Wells

In the late 1890s it was common for novels to be serialised in magazines or newspapers before publication in full, with each part of the serialisation ending on a cliffhanger to entice audiences to buy the next issue. This practice was familiar from Charles Dickens's novels earlier in the nineteenth century. The War of the Worlds was first serialised in the United Kingdom in Pearson's Magazine from April to December 1897.[23] Wells was paid £200 and Pearsons demanded to know the ending of the piece before committing to publish.[24] The complete volume was first published by Heinemann in 1898 and has been in print ever since.[25]

Two unauthorised serialisations of the novel were published in the United States prior to publication of the novel. The first was in the New York Evening Journal where the story was published as Fighters from Mars or the War of the Worlds, located in a New York setting, between December 1897 and January 1898.[26] The second version had the Martians landing near and around Boston, and was published by The Boston Post as Fighters from Mars, or the War of the Worlds in and near Boston in 1898.[10] Even though these versions are considered unauthorised, Hughes and Geduld speculate that Wells may inadvertently have agreed to the serialisation in the New York Evening Journal.[27] These two versions of the story were followed by Edison's Conquest of Mars by Garrett P. Serviss.

Holt, Rinehart & Winston reprinted the book in 2000, paired with The Time Machine, and commissioned Michael Koelsch to illustrate a new cover art.[28]

Reception

The War of the Worlds was received favourably by both readers and critics. The Illustrated London News wrote that the serialisation in Pearson’s magazine had "a very distinct success".[29] The story did even better as a book, and reviewers rated it as "the very best work he has yet produced",[29] and highlighting the story's originality in showing Mars in a new light through the concept of an alien invasion of Earth.[29] Writing for Harper's Weekly, Sidney Brooks admired Wells's writing style: "he has complete check over his imagination, and makes it effective by turning his most horrible of fancies into the language of the simplest, least startling denomination".[29] Praising Wells's "power of vivid realization", The Daily News reviewer wrote, "the imagination, the extraordinary power of presentation, the moral significance of the book cannot be contested".[29] There was, however, some criticism of the brutal nature of the events in the narrative.[30]

Invasion literature

Between 1871 and 1914 more than 60 works of fiction for adult readers describing invasions of Great Britain were published. The original work was The Battle of Dorking (1871) by George Tomkyns Chesney, which portrays a surprise German attack and landing on the south coast of England, made possible by the distraction of the Royal Navy in colonial patrols and the army in an Irish insurrection. The German army makes short work of English militia and rapidly marches to London. This story was published in Blackwood's Magazine in May 1871 and was so popular that it was reprinted a month later as a pamphlet which sold 80,000 copies.[31][32]

There are clear plot similarities between Wells's book and The Battle of Dorking. In both, a ruthless enemy makes a devastating surprise attack, with the British armed forces helpless to stop its relentless advance; and both involve the destruction of the Home Counties of southern England.[32] However The War of the Worlds transcends the typical fascination of invasion literature with European politics and international disputes, with its introduction of an alien adversary.[33]

The invasion literature genre provided a familiar base from which to support the success of The War of the Worlds. It may also have proved an important foundation for Wells's ideas, as he had never seen or fought in a war.[34]