H.G. Wells: Another Kind of Life

by Michael Sherborne

When H.G. Wells left school in 1880 at thirteen he looked destined for obscurity. Defying expectations, he became one of the most famous writers in the world, remaining active into the era of the atomic bomb, which he predicted by thirty years. He created classic science-fiction tales such as The Time Machine, The Invisible Man and The War of the Worlds, reinvented the Dickensian novel in Kipps and The History of Mr Polly, pioneered postmodernism in experimental fiction and harangued his contemporaries in polemics which included two bestselling histories of the world. He brought equal energy to his outrageously promiscuous love life. A series of affairs embraced distinguished authors such as Dorothy Richardson and Rebecca West, the gun-toting travel writer Odette Keun and Russian spy Moura Budberg. Until his death in 1946 Wells had artistic and ideological confrontations with everyone from Henry James to George Orwell, from Churchill to Stalin. He remains a controversial figure, attacked by some as a philistine, sexist and racist, praised by others as a great writer, a prophet of globalization and a pioneer of human rights. Renowned Wells scholar Michael Sherborne sets the record straight in this authoritative biography. It is the first full-scale account to include material from the long-suppressed skeleton correspondence with his mistresses and illegitimate daughter. Wells's life is a great story in its own right. Here it is retold from a 21st-century perspective, making it accessible and fascinating to general readers and English literature specialists alike.

Praise for ANOTHER KIND OF LIFE

'Authoritative, comprehensive and crisply written – David Lodge

Michael Sherborne's biography, Another Kind of Life, is a brilliant portrait of the man and the writer -- Daily Telegraph, Robert Douglas-Fairhurst

Admirably comprehensive ... Sherborne doesn't shy away from the contradictions and imperfections in either Wells's character or his works ... a wellrounded portrait of a flawed but truly prophetic figure -- Mail On Sunday, Simon Griffith

A valuable contribution to Wells studies … Sherborne has a direct, vigorous, often witty style, and the biography is readable and interesting throughout .. meticulous and wide-ranging in its research and persuasive in its arguments. -- The Wellsian

An excellent biography: authoritative, comprehensive, and crisply written -- Times Literary Supplement, Clare Harman

A careful, scholarly work ... a must for academic libraries and reading lists. --Patrick Parrinder, Science Fiction Studies

With access to heretofore-unpublished letters and a singular grasp of Wells genius, moxie, and failings, Sherborne is the first to portray the protean, scandalous, world-changing writer in full. --Donna Seaman, Booklist

Sherborne clearly knows his man and his subject inside out, meaning that this biography contains more than enough detail for the curious casual reader to understand Wells and his works, but also that it can provide a fantastic jumping-off point for those new to Wells scholarship who are looking for a good introduction to the subject. Highly recommended. -- Snake Oil Review Press

A brisk and witty complement to [David] Lodge's 'A Man of Parts' -- Adam Kirsch, The New Yorker

MICHAEL SHERBORNE is the Head of the English and Humanities Department at Luton Sixth Form College. He is the former editor of The Wellsian and chairman of the H.G. Wells Society