The War of the Worlds

FIRST EDITION, occasional marginal foxing, publishers grey cloth, publishers monograph on rear, spine toned, slightly rubbed, 16 leaves of advertisements, 8vo, London, William Heinemann, 1898.

One of the most important works of science fiction, War of The Worlds was the first depiction of a conflict between the human race and an extraterrestrial species. As was common for the period, the book started as a serial published between April and December 1897. The work comments on British Imperialism and general Victorian fears, superstitions and prejudices. In the late 19th Century the British Empire was the largest colonial power in the world, setting the start of the Martians’ own imperial invasion at the heart of the empire was a response to the catastrophic effect of the British on indigenous Tasmanians.

War of the Worlds has been adapted many times for radio, television and cinema.

It was most memorably dramatised in a 1938 radio programme directed by and starring Orson Welles that allegedly caused public panic among listeners who did not know the Martian invasion was fictional.