Chapter Further Reading of The Time Machine - Study Guide by H G Wells

Further Reading

If approaching the original The Origin of Species, by Charles Darwin seems daunting, his theories have been constantly re-presented in countless books throughout the past century. Steve Jones has 'updated' Origin in Almost Like a Whale [year], and Richard Dawkin's The Selfish Gene (2nd ed. 1989) is still the best introduction to modern evolutionary theory. Also, Matt Ridley's Origins of Virtue (1996) provides a revealing and accessible insight into the evolutionary science behind human social behaviour.

There is a glut of Utopian and anti-Utopian literature: from More's Utopia itself, to any of the books mentioned in the text itself. Many other of Wells' own writings will provide perspectives on his world-view, particularly Experiments in Autobiography and The Outline of History.

Wells has been written about copiously: see for example The Early H.G. Wells by Bernard Bergonzi (1961), or H.G. Wells: Discoverer of the Future by Lovat Dickson (1972). For a brief and critical view of Wells as seen from the 1940s, George Orwell's essay, Wells, Hitler and the World State can be found in Orwell's Penguin Essays.