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Biography - H.G. Wells [VHS]

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H.G. Wells is still well-known for his science fiction classics (The War of the Worlds, The Time Machine, The Invisible Man, etc.), but I doubt that many people today realize just how famous and influential, not to mention provocatively independent, the man was during his own time. The man's output was incredible, numbering some 160 books on a wealth of topics - in addition to science fiction, he wrote books of political commentary, rather shocking books about the sexual revolution and women's rights, and a very popular and influential account of the history of the world. I actually found out some information I would rather not have known about Wells, one of the writers I most admire, as he lived his life in a manner completely opposite from the mores of the Victorian Age in which he was born.

The story of Wells' childhood is fascinating. Born in 1866 to a working class family, Wells managed to break away from the roots of poverty, eventually winning a scholarship to attend the university in London. At age 7, nursing a broken leg, he discovered the joy of reading; by age 10, he was writing and illustrating his own novels (only one of which, unfortunately, survives). His mother tried her best to establish him as a draper's apprentice, but Wells despised the job and threatened to kill himself if forced to go back. He married his cousin in 1891, but the marriage was doomed because Isabel was frigid and H.G. Wells was most definitely not. Totally rejecting the Victorian society he found so oppressive, Wells left his wife after two years and began living openly with a fellow rebel, whom he married a couple of years later. His second wife gave her husband free rein to practice the art of womanizing, and Wells would boast a number of famous female companions over the years.

The Time Machine was published in 1893 and made Wells famous; the bulk of his science fiction classics would be published within the next five years. As the twentieth century dawned, Wells turned his attention to a number of different causes. Fearing the severity of future warfare, such as that of World War I, Wells began writing on the future of man and what he must do in order to survive - this usually involved the establishment of a one-world government. He was hailed for his writings on the conditions of the poorer classes, but he achieved great notoriety for his books on the sexuality of men and women. Wells was quite a wild man on this topic; while he was a strong proponent of women's rights, he also attacked such sacred topics as the nuclear family. The New Woman he envisioned took human shape in the form of Amber Reeves, a 19-year-old girl who soon gave birth to a child of the 50-ish Wells; this was quite the scandal, but Wells, his wife, and Reeves got on famously together.

After World War I, Wells began to grow disillusioned and bitter; society had not heeded his warnings about global warfare, and his hopes for the League of Nation were quickly dashed, as the doomed institution had little in common with the one-world government he espoused. He desperately wanted to teach people the dangers of nationalism, and this led him to write The Outline of History, a history of the world in 1000 pages. The book, largely forgotten today, stands nevertheless as one of the best-selling books of the century. Wells died in 1946, depressed and disillusioned over the course of world events and the bleak future of mankind.

This documentary covers all of this information and much more. As hard as it is to cram the extraordinary life of such a man into 45 minutes, A&E Biography does a stellar job of it. I don't approve of many of Wells' social and political views, but his surprisingly libertine lifestyle and socialistic thinking make him a much more fascinating study of subject than most science fiction readers will probably ever realize.

Not as in-depth as i would personally prefer. Too much emphasis on The Time Machine.. at the expense of anything personally revealing of H.G. 50 mins not long enough for any lifetime, let alone H.G. Wells.
I wish more work would have been done on this documentary. Don't waste your money.

The Invisible Man The Life and Liberties of H.G. Wells