6 h 47 minAudiobook9 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · 167 pagesHardcover · 6 × 9 in · 167 pagesAbout this book
What happens when the people who rule an empire find themselves helpless before invaders from another world?
In H. G. Wells’s The War of the Worlds, strange lights on Mars come before cylinders land in southern England. An unnamed writer in Woking watches the first arrival. Soon, towering fighting machines move through the countryside, and his familiar world becomes a place of flight and fear. His wish to find his wife gives survival a deeply personal urgency.
Meanwhile, the narrator’s brother, a medical student in London, faces a capital gripped by panic. Heat rays and black smoke threaten more than human lives: they strip away the belief that civilization means safety. Behind the swift story, Wells asks readers to consider conquest from the conquered side, and to watch how people behave when ordinary rules no longer hold.
What you’ll discover
- First contact turns terrifying Watch human hopes of communication meet a force they neither understand nor control.
- Machines above the rooftops Picture vast metal tripods striding through the Thames valley with an almost living motion.
- An ordinary man's struggle Follow a writer whose longing to reach his wife cuts through the wider catastrophe.
- An empire under threat Explore Wells’s challenge to human arrogance through an invasion that reverses the familiar roles.
- People without their certainties Encounter fear, bold plans, and fragile resolve as familiar structures of safety fall apart.
Is it for you?
This book suits readers who like science fiction at its roots, anyone curious about Victorian England, and listeners who want a fast story with real ideas behind it. If you want rounded heroes and a detailed plot of rescue, you may find it less suited.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Strange lights on Mars come before the landing
- A white flag is answered with fire
- Tripods stride over the Thames valley
- In London, panic spreads faster than the Martians
- Buried in a ruined house, the narrator watches and waits
- Empire, nature and a narrator who only reports
Who’s who
- The narratorAn unnamed writer living in Woking who sees the first landing and tells the whole story afterward, trying to survive and to find his wife.
- OgilvyAn astronomer at Ottershaw who sees the gas bursts on Mars and is the first to find the cylinder on Horsell Common.
- The narrator's wifeShe is taken by her husband to relatives at Leatherhead for safety, and his wish to return to her drives much of his journey.
- The narrator's brotherA medical student in London who must lead two women through the panic of the capital toward the sea.
- The curateA frightened clergyman who shelters with the narrator in a ruined house, and whose nerves threaten them both.
- The artillerymanA soldier the narrator meets in the ruined countryside, full of bold plans to rebuild a human world underground.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet, computer or Kindle, with the type as large as you like.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 6 h 47 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 9 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in, 167 pages: 8,95 USD when you start free, 14,95 USD on its own.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in, 167 pages: 15,95 USD when you start free, 21,95 USD on its own.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
eBooks and audiobooks open right away. Download EPUB or PDF, or send the book to your Kindle. Every printed copy is made when you order it and shipped worldwide; shipping is shown at checkout.
How it works · 60-day guarantee
- Start free. Nothing to pay today; the eBook of this book is yours to keep.
- Read, listen and print. 200,000+ classics as eBook, large-print eBook, audiobook and 15-minute summary, and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print, for the whole household.
- We remind you first. We email you 7 days before your first payment. Then your first year is 50% off: 0,14 USD a day, then 0,27 USD a day, never raised. Or 0,66 USD a day on the monthly plan. Cancel online in two clicks.
60-day money-back guarantee. If the library is not for you, ask within 60 days of your first payment and we refund it in full.
25 languages, side by side
Read and hear The War of the Worlds in 25 languages and switch at any time. Or read two side by side, paragraph by paragraph: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
Read it side by side
The War of the Worlds
by H. G. Wells· 1898
A Martian invasion forces ordinary people to flee their homes.
Excellent
- Read or listen
- 25 languages, side by side
- Print and large print at cost
- The whole household
Starts right away, on any device
Read free60-day money-back guaranteeRenews every yearCancel anytimeHow it works
Language: Deutsch
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1 of 6
Strange lights on Mars come before the landing
The novel opens with a warning that the earth is being watched. The narrator says that in the last years of the nineteenth century, minds far beyond ours studied this world with envy. Mars, he explains, is older than the earth and nearer to the end of its life. Its people need a new home, and the earth is the nearest one.
Then the story comes down to earth. The narrator visits his friend Ogilvy, an astronomer at the Ottershaw observatory, who has seen a burst of glowing gas on the surface of Mars. Ogilvy is excited, but the narrator and most people take the news lightly. The newspapers give it little space. The flashes come again on following nights, and then they stop.
Renews every year · Cancel anytime
The author
H. G. Wells
1866–1946 · English science fiction novelist
H. G. Wells (1866–1946) was an English writer born in Bromley, Kent. He wrote novels, short stories and nonfiction. His novels included The Time Machine (1895), The Island of Doctor Moreau (1896), The Invisible Man (1897) and The War of the Worlds (1898). He died in London.
“Intelligences greater than man's and yet as mortal as his own”
Free gifts
580 USD in free gifts when you start
Every book in every format and in 25 languages, for the whole household. Nothing to pay today.
- 200,000+ classic eBooksIn 25 languages, side by side
170 USDFREE - Every audiobookIn 25 languages, any device
120 USDFREE - 15-minute summariesRead or listen, in 25 languages
60 USDFREE - Print at cost, no markupPaperback, hardcover, large print
60 USDFREE - The whole householdUp to 5 readers
170 USDFREE - A part in rebuilding the libraryNew languages and books for all
FREE
More by H. G. Wells
All 37 books
More like this
Free
Free
Free
Free
Free
FreeOur mission
The library burned once. We are building it back.
Every great book, in every language and every format, for every family. Every plan helps pay for new languages, new audiobooks and books for readers who have never had them. Join the movement.
Read our story- Every language25 languages today, side by side, and more every year
- No wastePrinted on demand: no warehouses, no unsold stock, no pulped copies
- For everyonePaperback, hardcover and large print at the cost of printing
Questions about The War of the Worlds
Can I read it free?
Yes. The beginning, from the first page to the end of chapter 1, and the first 5 minutes of the audiobook are free with no sign-up. Start free and the whole book is yours for 90 days, with the eBook to keep. After that, your first year is 50% off. You also get 200,000+ more classics and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print. Nothing to pay today: we email you 7 days before your first payment, and you can cancel online in two clicks.
Can I buy just the printed book?
Yes. The paperback costs 14,95 USD on its own. Start free and you pay the cost of printing: 8,95 USD for this paperback, and any other book at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print.
Can my family read too?
Yes. The whole household reads and listens: up to 5 readers, each with their own shelf and their own place in every book.
What if it is not for me?
Cancel online in two clicks at any time and nothing more is charged. If you have paid and the library is not for you, ask within 60 days of your first payment and we refund it in full.
What is The War of the Worlds about?
It tells of Martians who land in southern England in cylinders and attack with machines and heat weapons. An ordinary narrator describes the invasion, the flight of the population and his struggle to survive.
Is The War of the Worlds a true story?
No. It is fiction by H. G. Wells, serialised in 1897 and published as a book in 1898. The 1938 radio broadcast of the story later caused a famous scare, but the novel itself is invented.
Who is the narrator of The War of the Worlds?
He is never named. He is a writer and thinker who lives in Woking and sees the first Martian landing. He tells the story afterward, as a plain record of what he saw and felt.
Popular in science fiction
See all
Free
Free
Free
Free
