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What if a nation's future depends less on its factories than on how it raises its children?
In Mankind in the Making, H. G. Wells turns from imagining other worlds to arguing about this one. His question is direct: how do we prepare people for the future? He sees society as a stream of births, with each generation needing food, care and teaching—not simply laws and industry.
Wells argues that raising children is public work, not just a private concern. He challenges poorly funded schools, neglected teachers and short-sighted leaders. But his wish to plan society also leads into troubling eugenic ideas about who should have children. The book asks you to examine both his hopes and the harsh assumptions behind them.
What you’ll discover
- Children at the centre See how Wells shifts political attention from trade and government to the next generation.
- The value of parenthood Explore his argument that bearing and raising children deserves recognition and support from society.
- Minds beyond memorised facts Follow his challenge to old school patterns and the poor treatment of teachers.
- Planning and its dangers Confront the troubling eugenic thinking that sits alongside his hopes for a better society.
- A novelist argues publicly Meet Wells as a social thinker questioning the fitness of politicians, landed families and the press.
Who will love it
Readers drawn to bold, witty arguments about society, education, language and government will enjoy this book, as will anyone curious about Edwardian visions of the future.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Judge institutions by the people they make
- Knowledge must come before collective action
- Every baby needs a fair start
- Language gives thought room to grow
- Education reaches beyond the classroom
- Public honours teach children what matters
- Guide young imaginations without creating ignorance
- Shared thought needs honest support
- Keep asking what helps children grow
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Mankind in the Making
by H. G. Wells · 1903
Wells judges English-speaking civilisation by its care for the seven babies born into it each minute.
Challenging5–10 hours to read20 languages
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“remains the outstanding expositor of both the hope, and the despair, which are embodied in the technology and which are the major facts of life in our world”
In short
Seven babies have entered the English-speaking population in the past minute. H. G. Wells opens his second chapter with that fact, and the picture stays with you.
Mankind in the Making at a glance
- Reading time
- About 6 h 35 min5 h 15 min fast, 7 h 50 min slow
- Length
- 94,000 words
- Library level
- Challenging long sentences, a rich vocabulary
- First published
- 1903by H. G. Wells
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Life is a fabric of births
Wells sets aside big abstract words like Liberty, Duty and Happiness as starting points. Life, he says, is plainly a succession of births. Youth and preparation come first, then love, then the care of children.
Even a person's daily work, reading and art lean toward this fact. A man labours to feed and teach his children. A story needs a love interest. Even the monk who flees to the desert is fighting a battle over birth. Only the idea of evolution, in his view, made the pattern reasonable, because it shows each generation as a real step forward.
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Details
- First published
- 1903
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 7 h 30 min
- Level
- Challenging
Cite this edition
Wells, H. G. Mankind in the Making. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/mankind-in-the-making.
Wells, H. G. (2026). Mankind in the making. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/mankind-in-the-making (Original work published 1903)
Wells, H. G. Mankind in the Making. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/mankind-in-the-making.
@book{wells2026mankind,
author = {Wells, H. G.},
title = {Mankind in the Making},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/mankind-in-the-making},
note = {First published 1903}
}
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What is Mankind in the Making about?
It is a set of essays by H. G. Wells arguing that every institution should be judged by how well it helps produce healthy, capable people. It covers babies, language, homes, schools, government, books and the support of writers.
What does the New Republic mean in Wells's book?
The New Republic is Wells's name for a loose movement of people who judge all social and political activity by one test: does it improve births and the lives that follow? It rejects old party and national loyalties as ends in themselves.
When was Mankind in the Making written?
It was published in 1903 and gathers essays that first appeared in the Fortnightly Review and the Cosmopolitan. Wells wrote it as a companion to Anticipations, giving British and American examples.
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.
“Individuality is experiment.”
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