Penguin A Short History of the World Уэллс Герберт Джордж

The Penguin English Library Edition of The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells • 'Death!' I shouted. 'Death is coming! Death!' • In this pioneering, shocking and nightmarish tale, naive suburban Londoners investigate a strange cylinder from space, but are instantly incinerated by an all-destroying heat-ray. Soon, gigantic killing machines that chase and feed on human prey are threatening the whole of humanity. A pioneering work of alien invasion fiction, The War of the World's journalistic style contrasts disturbingly with its horrifying visions of the human race under siege • The Penguin English Library - 100 editions of the best fiction in English, from the eighteenth century and the very first novels to the beginning of the First World War

The first modern depiction of extra-terrestrials attacking the earth, The War of the Worlds remains one of the most influential of all science-fiction works. It shows the whole of human civilization under threat, as terrifying, tentacled Martians land in England, build gigantic killing machines, destroy all in their path with black gas and burning rays and feast on the warm blood of trapped, still-living human prey. The forces of the Earth, however, may prove harder to beat than they at first appear

'I will go in, out of this dust and heat, out of this dry glitter of vanity, out of these toilsome futilities. I will go and never return.' Three disturbing, mysterious and moving stories from Wells, science-fiction pioneer. Introducing Little Black Classics: 80 books for Penguin's 80th birthday. Little Black Classics celebrate the huge range and diversity of Penguin Classics, with books from around the world and across many centuries. They take us from a balloon ride over Victorian London to a garden of blossom in Japan, from Tierra del Fuego to 16th-century California and the Russian steppe. Here are stories lyrical and savage; poems epic and intimate; essays satirical and inspirational; and ideas that have shaped the lives of millions. H

"For a time I believed that mankind had been swept out of existence, and that I stood there alone, the last man left alive." • When an alien capsule lands on Horsell Common, Woking, crowds of astonished onlookers gather. But wonder soon turns to terror when the Martians emerge. Armed with deadly heat rays, the aliens begin their conquest of earth. Confronted by powers beyond our control, a technology far in advance of our own, and a race of alien invaders which regard us as no more than ants, humankind faces extinction • While the world crumbles under the shadow of the Martian menace, one man sets out alone across the desolate wasteland to find his wife

Part of Penguin's beautiful hardback Clothbound Classics series, designed by the award-winning Coralie Bickford-Smith, these delectable and collectible editions are bound in high-quality, colourful, tactile cloth with foil stamped into the design • From the planet of war they came to conquer the Earth • The night after a shooting star is seen streaking across the sky, a cylinder is discovered on Horsell Common. Fascinated and exhilarated, the local people approach the mysterious object armed with nothing more than a white flag. But when gruesome alien creatures emerge armed with all-destroying heat-rays, their rashness turns rapidly to fear. As the rays blaze towards them, it soon becomes clear they have no choice but to flee - or die • The forces of the Earth, however, may prove harder to beat than they at first appear

Mr Polly is an ordinary middle-aged man who is tired of his wife's nagging and his dreary job as the owner of a regional gentleman's outfitters. Faced with the threat of bankruptcy, he concludes that the only way to escape his frustrating existence is by burning his shop to the ground, and killing himself. Unexpected events, however, conspire at the last moment to lead the bewildered Mr Polly to a bright new future - after he saves a life, fakes his death, and escapes to a life of heroism, hope and ultimate happiness

Throughout history, maps have been fundamental in shaping our view of the world, and our place in it. But far from being purely scientific objects, maps of the world are unavoidably ideological and subjective, intimately bound up with the systems of power and authority of particular times and places. Mapmakers do not simply represent the world, they construct it out of the ideas of their age. In this scintillating book, Jerry Brotton examines the significance of 12 maps - from the almost mystical representations of ancient history to the satellite-derived imagery of today. He vividly recreates the environments and circumstances in which each of the maps was made, showing how each conveys a highly individual view of the world. Brotton shows how each of his maps both influenced and reflected contemporary events and how, by reading it, we can better understand the worlds that produced it

The War of the Worlds introduced the idea of alien invasion to the world. Featuring inscrutable extra-terrestrials armed with a terrifying array of weapons, including the Heat-Ray, robotic killing machines walking on three legs, and 'black smoke', the novel resonated with Victorian Britain. The ingenious creations of Wells' mind stood out from the abundance of invasion literature that was flooding the market at the time

В "Войне миров" Герберт Уэллс создал образ масштабной экзистенциальной угрозы человечеству - угрозы, заставляющей по-новому оценить все те достижения, к которым пришли люди к началу ХХ века. Чего стоит пресловутый "прогресс", социальные и экономические перемены в критической ситуации? Сможет ли человек выжить, когда государство бессильно и он из гражданина, наделенного обширным набором прав и свобод, становится просто дичью, объектом охоты? • Книга на английском языке • For a time I believed that mankind had been swept out of existence, and that I stood there alone, the last man left alive • In this thrilling tale of alien invasion, H. G. Wells rewrites the science fiction genre. Following the travails of an unnamed narrator, The War of the Worlds reveals the true terror of life under an implacable and enigmatic foe

Mysterious explosions on the surface of Mars signal the beginning of an alien invasion. Soon the ruthless creatures are terrorizing Earth with their unstoppable death rays. Can nothing prevent these merciless Martians from taking over the world? H.G. Wells' classic story of Martian invasion, vividly retold for newly independent readers

One night a shooting star is seen over the skies of Surrey. The next day, it's discovered to have been a mysterious metallic cylinder from Mars. What comes next is a terrifying alien attack, as tentacled Martian invaders emerge from the cylinder and prey on humankind using shocking new weapons against which the people of Victorian England can offer no resistance • The aliens begin to devastate the area in their tripod machines, and as our narrator struggles to return to his wife, the fight for London - and the world - begins

HG Wells' thrilling 'scientific romance' about the Martian landings in Woking and the terrifying alien conquest of London has captured imaginations since 1898, not least in 1938 when Orson Welles' radio dramatization caused panic in New York