Herbert George Wells
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H.G. Wells published The Time Machine in 1895, followed by The War of the Worlds in 1898. He coined the term atomic bomb in his 1913 novel The World Set Free. He also wrote social novels like Kipps and The History of Mr Polly, and was a Fabian Society member. He died in 1946 at age 79.
Names, aliases, and relatives of H.G. Wells — birth name, kin, and personal ties.
H.G. Wells by the numbers — life, work, and family.
H.G. Wells — early life, career, personal life, and legacy.
Herbert George Wells was born on September 21, 1866, in Bromley, Kent, to parents Sarah Neal and Joseph Wells. His father was a shopkeeper and his mother a domestic servant. After his father went bankrupt when Wells was 13, he was forced to leave school and become a draper’s apprentice. He hated the boredom of drapery and eventually became a teacher, studying biology at the Royal College of Science in London under Thomas Henry Huxley. That experience shaped his scientific worldview.
Wells achieved fame with The Time Machine 1895, a novel that introduced the concept of time travel to literature. He followed with The War of the Worlds 1898, depicting an alien invasion of Earth. These works established him as a leading figure in science fiction. He also wrote comic social novels such as Kipps 1905 and The History of Mr Polly 1910, which were later adapted into successful films. Wells was a member of the Fabian Society and wrote extensively on social and political issues, including The Outline of History 1920.
Wells married his cousin Isabel Mary Wells in 1891; they separated in 1894 and divorced in 1895. He then married Amy Catherine Robbins, a student, in 1895; they remained married until her death in 1927. Wells had numerous affairs, including with journalist Rebecca West, with whom he had a son, Anthony West. He also had a child with Amber Reeves. His other lovers included Odette Keun, Moura Budberg, and Margaret Sanger. Wells fathered three children with his second wife: George Philip, Frank, and Anthony West.
H.G. Wells influenced countless authors and filmmakers, earning him the title father of science fiction. His novel The War of the Worlds caused panic when adapted for radio by Orson Welles in 1938. He predicted the atomic bomb in The World Set Free 1913, decades before its development. Wells was inducted into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame. His works continue to be adapted, and his great-grandson Simon Wells directed the 2002 remake of The Time Machine. He pioneered themes like time travel, alien invasion, and genetic manipulation.
Browse the complete filmography of H.G. Wells — every film, TV show, and documentary credit, ranked by popularity.
Every award, honor, and recognition received by H.G. Wells — Grammys, hall-of-fame inductions, civic honors, lifetime achievements.
H.G. Wells's bibliography — every authored, edited, and co-written book, ranked by edition count.
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A wall of memorable lines from H.G. Wells — lyrics, interviews, and off-the-cuff remarks captured over a lifetime.
Some People Bear Three Kinds of Trouble the Ones They’ve Had, the Ones They Have, and the Ones They Expect to Have.
Advertising Is Legalized Lying.
Every Time I See an Adult on a Bicycle, I No Longer Despair for the Future of the Human Race.
Our True Nationality Is Mankind.
What Really Matters Is What You Do with What You Have.
Moral Indignation Is Jealousy with a Halo.
Human History Becomes More and More a Race Between Education and Catastrophe.
Cynicism Is Humor in Ill Health.
The Forceps of Our Minds Are Clumsy Forceps, and Crush the Truth a Little in Taking Hold of It.
Inside These Old Forgotten Books on Shelves Are Wonders, Miracles!
In These Undiscovered Books on the Shelf There Are Marvels, Miracles!
There’s This Idle Feeling That Settles When the Day’s Work Is Done and You Just Want to Ride Around on a Bike. That’s the Time for Sex.
The Minds of Our Comfortable and Influential Ruling Class People Refuse to Accept the Plain Intimation That Their Time Is Over, That the Balance of Power and Uncontrolled Business Methods Cannot Continue, and That Hitler, Like the Hohenzollerns, Is a Mere Offensive Pustule on the Face of a Deeply Ailing World. to Get Rid of Him and His Nazis Will Be No More a Cure for the World’s Ills Than Scraping Will Cure Measles. the Disease Will Manifest Itself in Some New Eruption. It Is the System of Nationalist Individualism and Uncoordinated Enterprise That Is the World’s Disease, and It Is the Whole System That Has to Go.
Nature Never Appeals to Intelligence Until Habit and Instinct Are Useless. There Is No Intelligence Where There Is No Need of Change
Very Simple Was My Explanation, and Plausible Enough as Most Wrong Theories Are!
He Showed It to Me with All the Confiding Zest of a Man Who Has Been Living Too Much Alone. This Seclusion Was Overflowing Now in an Excess of Confidence, and I Had the Good Luck to Be the Recipient.
It Is Really in the End a Far More Humane Proceeding Than Our Earthly Method of Leaving Children to Grow into Human Beings, and Then Making Machines of Them
It Is a Curious Little Thing to Note That the Unlimited Growth of the Lunar Brain Has Rendered Unnecessary the Invention of All Those Mechanical Aids to Brain Work Which Have Distinguished the Career of Man. There Are No Books, No Records of Any Sort, No Libraries or Inscriptions. All Knowledge Is Stored in Distended Brains Much as the Honey Ants of Texas Store Honey in Their Distended Abdomens. the Lunar Somerset House and the Lunar British Museum Library Are Collections of Living Brains…
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I Explained to Him How Our Science Was Growing by the United Labours of Innumerable Little Men, and on That He Made No Comment Save That It Was Evident We Had Mastered Much in Spite of Our Social Savagery, or We Could Not Have Come to the Moon. yet the Contrast Was Very Marked. with Knowledge the Selenites Grew and Changed; Mankind Stored Their Knowledge About Them and Remained Brutes Equipped.
‘But What Good Is This War?’ Asked the Grand Lunar, Sticking to His Theme. ‘Oh! as for Good!’ Said I; ‘It Thins the Population!’
Little-known facts about H.G. Wells — origins, oddities, and behind-the-scenes details from a public life.
While driving through San Antonio, Texas, H.G. Wells stopped to ask for directions and happened to encounter Orson Welles, who had recently broadcast The War of the Worlds on the radio. They spent the day together, and a recording exists of them discussing the broadcast and public reaction.
He was the first novelist to employ themes of time travel in The Time Machine, interplanetary invasion in The War of the Worlds, genetic manipulation in The Island of Dr. Moreau, and nuclear war in The World Set Free in 1913. He also originated the term atomic bomb.
His great-grandson Simon Wells directed the 2002 remake of The Time Machine, based on Wells’s novel.
H.G. Wells was cremated and his ashes scattered, so he has no grave or headstone. He suggested his epitaph should be God damn you all, I told you so, but this was never inscribed.
He cheated on his wives repeatedly and demanded of his second wife the right to take lovers. His son with journalist Rebecca West, Anthony West, wrote about their relationship in Aspects of a Life 1984. He also had a child with Amber Reeves. Other lovers included Odette Keun, Moura Budberg, and Margaret Sanger. Wells may have fathered up to five children out of wedlock.
He is the subject of the 1979 film Time After Time, in which he is played by Malcolm McDowell. The plot has him invent a time machine that Jack the Ripper uses to travel to 1979 San Francisco.
His name appeared on a list in Nazi Germany as a target for suppression if Britain was defeated. Wells considered this a dark form of flattery.
He enjoyed playing with toy soldiers throughout his life.
He created a game called Little Wars using toy soldiers, with rules for infantry, cavalry, and artillery. It is considered the first table-top war game.
He gave up his teaching career after contracting tuberculosis, turning to writing for a living as he recovered.
His work influenced the TV series Doctor Who, and a documentary All’s Wells That Ends Wells 2011 explored that connection. Writer Glen McCoy was inspired to write an episode featuring Wells as a character named Herbert. In Doctor Who: The Movie 1996, the Doctor reads The Time Machine as a tribute.
All four of his children were alive when the 1960 film adaptation of The Time Machine and the 1979 film Time After Time were released.
He was an active member of the socialist Fabian Society and ran as a Labour Party candidate for Parliament in 1921 and 1922, but was defeated.
Wells has been portrayed on television by John Bird in Fothergill 1981 and by Michael Sheen in H.G. Wells’s War With The World 2006.
He admitted to hating his time as a draper’s apprentice, unable to tolerate the boredom.
As a boy, he wrote several illustrated stories, but only one survives today.
He appears on the cover of The Beatles’ album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.
The science fiction novel The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham was compared to Wells’s work for its plausible fantasy. Both Triffids and tripods from The War of the Worlds begin with tri.
Many regard him as the father of science fiction.
His first wife, Isabel, was the daughter of his father’s cousin.
He was the focal point of an episode of the television show Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.
He was reportedly unhappy with the 1932 film Island of Lost Souls, based on his novel The Island of Dr. Moreau.
Privately, he felt disappointed that his more serious novels sold less well than his science fiction.
He was forced to leave school at 13 after his father went bankrupt.
In later years, Wells moved from London to suburban Surrey due to city pollution affecting his health.
As a teacher, he found his job easier when dealing with motivated pupils.
He felt his alleged affairs stimulated his creativity as a writer.
To close family members, he was sometimes known by the nickname Berty.
Quick answers to the questions readers ask most about H.G. Wells.
Celebrities similar to H.G. Wells — same craft, ranked by reach.
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