Modern warfare takes to the skies in this novel by a master of science fiction and fantasy.
In 1907, young Bert Smallways, a brilliant mechanist and accidental aeronaut, finds himself a reluctant stowaway upon the very same airship that will begin the Great War. Soon, Smallways is swept away aboard the Vaterland, the flagship piloted by a belligerent German prince, whose mastery of technology heralds a new age of war that takes to the sky.
Filled with petrol-powered war machines, ironclads, bombardments, and espionage, The War in the Air prophesied methods of warfare that would only develop later in the twentieth century. A cornerstone of early science fiction, this exciting tale is H. G. Wells at his best.
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The son of a professional cricketer and a lady’s maid, H. G. Wells (1866–1946) served apprenticeships as a draper and a chemist’s assistant before winning a scholarship to the prestigious Normal School of Science in London. While he is best remembered for his groundbreaking science fiction novels, including The Time Machine, The War of the Worlds, The Invisible Man, and The Island of Doctor Moreau, Wells also wrote extensively on politics and social matters and was one of the foremost public intellectuals of his day.