The War in the Air

“The War of the Worlds” is a science fiction novel by Herbert Wells, written in 1907 and published in 1908. The novel is interesting for its predictions—especially its prediction of world war, aerial combat, and bombardments of cities. Wells doesn’t stop at depicting the future battle of nations. He tries to reveal the deepest contradictions that imperialism brings to the world—contradictions that ultimately generate war. All former boundaries between peoples and countries have been violated. Long-established habits and traditions have changed. Weapons have become ever more monstrous. “The historical stage has become too small,” explains the writer. And so “governments behave like ill-mannered people in an overcrowded train car: they shove each other with elbows, trample on toes.”