G. W.

Born Herbert George Wells in Bromley, Kent, in 1866, he became one of the most influential writers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He wrote more than forty novels along with many short stories and works of nonfiction, moving easily between storytelling and big public ideas.

He is best remembered for landmark science fiction such as The Time Machine, The Island of Doctor Moreau, The Invisible Man, and The War of the Worlds. These books helped define the genre by taking bold scientific ideas and making them feel immediate, human, and unsettling.

Beyond fiction, he was also a teacher, journalist, historian, and outspoken social critic. That mix of imagination and argument gave his work unusual range: he could tell a gripping story while also asking what science, progress, and power might mean for everyday life.