War in the Air
Come fly with Bert Smallways, a commoner with a comic, tragic, star-crossed, and high-flying fate, into a future that never was. Long out of print! A visionary novel by the author of The War of the Worlds and The Time Machine This classic, full-length novel from H. G. Wells imagines a world of progress stricken by brutal conflict in the sky—written before the actual invention of airplanes. Bert Smallways is a small man in a small town with big dreams. His most fantastic dream—flying—seems improbable. Prototype airplane after airplane crashes and burns. Until one doesn’t. Bert's desire to fly beckons him and combines with implacable fate to sweep him up in a fantastic, dramatic adventure in which he, a pawn of fortune at the center of it all, travels to far lands and distant battles envisioned in The War in the Air. His adventures will have great consequence for the entire world. But will this star-crossed young man find what he really desires?
H.G. Wells, Paul Di Filippo
H.G. Wells (1866-1946): Herbert George Wells was born on September 21st, 1866, in Bromley, England to working class parents. He struggled with poor health, and at age seven a broken leg left him bedridden. During this time, he read numerous books that introduced him to different worlds and stoked in him a desire to write. In his early teens, he was employed as a draper’s assistant, but he disliked the work and quit three years later. Deciding to teach, Wells struggled to continue school, ultimately winning a scholarship to the Normal School of Science. He continued to write. In 1895, he became an overnight literary sensation with the publication of The Time Machine, followed by such classics as The War of the Worlds, The Island of Doctor Moreau, The Invisible Man, and The First Men in the Moon. For roughly 50 years, Wells was a prolific writer whose visionary works reflected his interests in social class and reform, economic disparity, and progressive ideas such as evolution. Wells held tolerant ideas about sexuality and love. He married twice, was involved in many affairs, and had children with four women across his lifetime.Many of his concepts for the future came to pass, such as the advent of aircraft, tanks, space travel, nuclear weapons, satellite television, and even the World Wide Web. Some call him “the Father of Futurism,” though he is more commonly known as “the Father of Science Fiction.” Wells died of unspecified causes on August 13, 1946 in his home at age 79. In his preface to The War in the Air (1941 edition), Wells stated that his epitaph should read, “I told you so. You damned fools.”
