WELLS, HERBERT GEORGE. - English social writer and novelist, b. 21 Sept. 1866, d. 13 Aug. 1946, a disciple of T. H. Huxley, he was throughout his life a modernist and an apostle of scientific progress.
The pseudoprophetic message that can be drawn from his entire vast output is that God is an automatic and unfinished god who needs man's cooperation in order to overcome the various forms of evil and fully realize himself. Some of his books, such as The time machine (1895), The war of the worlds (1898), The invisible man (1897), became popular as fantastic visions of the future of science and are read as adventure novels; others set forth and popularize social questions, but only a few possess narrative qualities, and even these do not stand out for excellence of style, since W. did not have the innate talent of a Dickens nor the liveliness and wit of his friend G. B. Shaw. Among his most successful works is Tono Bungay (1909), in which the class of the new rich in England at the end of the 19th century is happily characterized. The vision he gives of world history in works intended for a vast public of readers, such as Short history of the world (1922), was harshly criticized by Belloc. W. has often been presented as a champion of optimistic positivism, but the tone of his last writings often darkens into pessimism.
Bibliography4 worksG. West, H. G. W., a sketch for a portrait, London 1930; H. G. Wells, Experiment in autobiography etc., 2 vols., ibid. 1934; E. Cecchi, Pent
BIBL.: G. West, H. G. W., a sketch for a portrait, London 1930; H. G. Wells, Experiment in autobiography etc., 2 vols., ibid. 1934; E. Cecchi, Pentimenti di H. G. W., in Scrittori inglesi e americani, Lanciano 1935, pp. 192-203; M. Praz, Vita d H. G. W., in Studi e svaghi inglesi, Florence 1937, pp. 117-23.
Guidi, Augusto. “Wells, herbert george.” In Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. XII, coll. 1666–1667. Città del Vaticano: Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1954. https://azioneromana.com/article/wells-herbert-george.
MLA
Guidi, Augusto. “Wells, herbert george.” Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. XII, Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1954, coll. 1666–1667. Azione Romana, https://azioneromana.com/article/wells-herbert-george.
BibTeX
@incollection{ec12_wells_herbert_george,
author = {Guidi, Augusto},
title = {Wells, herbert george},
booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica},
volume = {XII},
pages = {1666--1667},
note = {Cited by column},
publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico},
address = {Città del Vaticano},
year = {1954},
url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/wells-herbert-george}
}
One of some 20,000 entries brought back from the twelve printed volumes (1948–54). Spotted something? Help us improve it.
Click or scroll to zoom · drag to pan · Esc to close
