Maps of Utopia: H. G. Wells, Modernity, and the End of Culture

H. G. Wells is one of the most widely-read writers of the twentieth century, but until now the aesthetics of his work have not been investigated in detail. Maps of Utopia tells the story of Wells's writing career over six decades, during which he produced popular science, educational theory, history, politics, prophecy, and utopia, as well as realist, experimental, and science fiction. This book asks what Wells thought literature was, and what he thoughtit was for.Maps of Utopia begins with the late-Victorian debate about the effect of reading, especially reading fiction, that followed the mass literacy of the 1870-71 Education Acts. Itconsiders Wells's best known scientific romances, The Time Machine and The War of the Worlds, and important social novels such as Tono-Bungay. It also examines less well-known texts, including The Sea Lady, Boon, and Wells's journalism and political writings. This study closes with his cinematic collaboration The Shape of Things to Come, and The Outline of History, Wells's best-selling book in his own lifetime.

• | Author: Simon J. James
• | Publisher: Oxford University Press
• | Publication Date: June 02, 2020
• | Number of Pages: 248 pages
• | Language: English
• | Binding: Paperback
• | ISBN-10: 0198833776
• | ISBN-13: 9780198833772