H. G. WELLS' "The War of the Worlds"

The novel, originally published in 1898, was Wells' second novel. He used many clever tactics to give the book a realistic effect. It was formatted as a radio broadcast where he used names of actual and fictitious astronomers along with careful geographic detail of parts of Britain where he lived. In a review by "Nature" - the real scientific journal, not the fictional one - it was suggested that his book may raise the fear in its readers that an actual invasion from Mars was possible.

The book represents many firsts, including the fact that it has been noted as the first time mass panic was described in a story. It was also a first in that it described the first true extraterrestrials to appear in fiction. He changed the previous notion that aliens were humanoid imitations of mankind to the idea that aliens were intelligent creatures evolved from an alien planetary environment.

Wells has been charged with using his book to convey his political views. He has been quoted many times as being against war. Some believe that his descriptions of the advanced life forms with advanced weapons taking over without any regard for the humans can be compared to the acts of the Britains over Africans or to the Incas and Aztecs when the Spanish Conquistadors invaded with their firearms, crossbows and monstrous horses.

It may be that Wells was presenting a wake up call to the human race that we may not be the only , let alone the most intelligent, lifeforms in the universe as he aludes to in Chapter One of his book by writing,

"And we men, the creatures who inhabit this earth, must be to them at least as alien and lowly as are the monkeys and lemurs to us. The intellectual side of man already admits that life is an incessant struggle for existence, and it would seem that this too is the belief of the minds upon Mars. "