Customer Reviews

The Complete War of The Worlds

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With Spielberg's new film adaptation of WAR OF THE WORLDS in theatres, more attention is being paid to both the original Wells novel, and the infamous 1938 Welles radio broadcast. If you're interested in both, why not treat yourself to the best presentation of either version available today?

THE COMPLETE WAR OF THE WORLDS is an excellent book. It reprint the complete, unedited novel; prints the entire script to the radio play; and comes with a CD containing the entire radio play broadcast, plus archival materials such as the only interview Wells and Welles did together on the topic. [The recording sound quality is the best I've ever discovered for this play, BTW.] In addition, the book has lots of great historical and biographical material, including articles looking at the lives of both Wells and Welles; the story of the radio broadcast and the panic it caused; and a survey of the many incarnations of WotW in literature, film, and television.

If you have any curiosity about the book or the radio play, do yourself a favor and buy this book. It's worth it!

This book is incredible. I got it for my birthday 5 years ago and I still love reading it today. It holds everything about war of the worlds you could want. it has the original story with all the pictures, it has the writing of the terrifying 1938 Orson Welles radio broadcast, (as well as peoples reactions to it), biographies of orson welles and H.G. wells and much more observing every movie, book, musical you could imagine. it also includes and audio CD where you can hear: orson welles horrifying radio bradcast, the only meeting between orson welles and H.G. wells, the press conference the day after the broacast with orson, another radio bradcast by a different station 30 years later, and much more. when i got it, it cost 40 dollars. you should buy it from amazon cuz its a lot cheaper. its a really excellent book that any fan of anything war of the worlds would love for many years. buy it today, you wont regret it!

War of the Worlds enthusiasts continue to love, emulate and draw new stories from this, the original outer-space invasion novel. The story has been filmed twice--once as a television series and once as a 1950's sci-fi epic--but it's been copied and re-told many times in other films, INDEPENDENCE DAY included. What would Hollywood do without this original, one-of-a-kind horror story? This new book has everything, including a CD and excerpts from a recorded discussion between H.G. Wells and Orson Welles, as well as the original 1938 Welles broadcast, and two press conferences with Welles. What's missing is the fascinating story of how and why Wells wrote this story (it's truly a horror tale--our hero has to sit in an abandoned house for days, listening to the Martians eating live humans, for instance), which contains many of the same suspenseful elements you'll find in other classics that will not die--such as FRANKENSTEIN, DRACULA and SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES. When I traveled to England to attend a meeting of the H.G. Wells Society in 1998 (the centenary of War of the Worlds' publication), I was treated to a walking tour of the actual Martian landing site, the sand pits of Woking. Then, we followed the same path that the Martians traversed during their campaign against the world. A small, polished pebble lifted from the sandpits sits before my writing desk, a relic of a fictitious war for which, like the recent attacks on New York, Washington and Pennsylvania, no-one was prepared. Wells was living in a time of unrest, when anarchists (terrorists?) might strike at any time at the powerful and arrogant British Empire, and the portent of war was everywhere. War of the Worlds was a wake-up call! Ray Bradbury's foreword is worth the price of the book. He is truly Wells' successor--a behavioral optimist who in every way is the kind of writer Wells tried to be. Incidentally, Bradbury once told me that he missed his chance to meet H.G. Wells when he lectured in L.A. Bradbury was a high school student and didn't have the price of admission. Besides, he told me, "I was afraid I'd die of a heart attack if I met him!" Wells dominated the first half of the 20th Century, Bradbury the second half. Both were believers in the potential and unrealized greatness of humankind. Both are worth reading. --Jim Reed, author of DAD'S TWEED COAT: SMALL WISDOMS, HIDDEN COMFORTS, UNEXPECTED JOYS

I ordered this book after hearing the 1940 radio interview where both H.G. Wells and Orson Welles appeared together. That was an amazing program as both men discussed the war that was looming in Europe--and that they felt would soon envelope the United States. Orson even mentioned that he was working on a movie called Citizen Kane.

Unfortunately, only about two minutes of that hour-long interview is contained on the CD. The same is true for Orson Welles' press conference where he answered some of the controversy about his broadcast--the CD only has a couple of minutes of it. This was a major disappointment, because both recordings are fascinating and I was left wondering why we only get to hear short soundbites from them rather than the entire thing. Seriously, why bother at all?

The book is much more comprehensive and worthwhile.

The editors of this book have done a great job of putting together a wonderful CD/book package on "The War of the Worlds" as originally written by H.G. Wells and reinterpreted by Orson Welles and many others. The texts of both the original novel and the radio broadcast are included, but there is so much more! The novel is accompanied by the original Warwick Goble illustrations that appeared in Pearson's Magazine in 1897. Although, as is often the case in reproductions, the illustrations lose a little clarity, they are still a splendid addition to the text and add to the pleasure of reading it.

The transcript of the Mercury Theatre radio play is in the text and the recording of the original broadcast is included on the accompanying compact disc. The disc has three interviews with Orson Welles about the broadcast, including one where he appeared with H. G. Wells on a Texas radio station in 1940. The disc also includes an excerpt from a broadcast of a different updated War of the Worlds presentation on a Buffalo, N.Y. radio station in 1968.

The book is divided into three parts. The first part is called The Broadcast and contains the full text of the radio play as well as two articles about the production, the players, and the effects of the broadcast. Both are wonderfully illustrated with newspaper clippings and black & white photographs. Since neither are signed, I assume they were written by the editors, Brian Holmsten and Alex Lubertozzi. These two articles are excellent at setting the context of the broadcast and the background of the Mercury Theatre as well as telling the story of the panic resulting from the broadcast and the press coverage that followed.

The second part of the book deals with other interpretations of this story and other stories of life on Mars. This is the shortest section, but it is the only section of the book that has color illustrations. In one page, the book briefly covers George Pal's 1953 movie, the Fox 1988 television series, Jeff Wayne's London musical comedy, and the CBS TV presentation of "The Night America Trembled." The cursory review of other literary works that are based on the works of Wells and Welles is interesting reading, but would have benefited from more detail.

The third part of the book consists of an unsigned brief biography of H. G. Wells (presumably written by the two editors) which is followed by the text of the original novel. The biography is also illustrated with wonderful black and white pictures.

A Forward by Ray Bradbury and an Afterword by Ben Bova round out the book. Bradbury talks about the two writers and their works, while Dr. Bova discusses the scientific exploration of Mars. A two page bibliography with lots of links to Internet resources completes the book and gives the reader many resources for further information. This is a richly rewarding book with excellent illustrations, the complete texts of both versions of The War of the Worlds, and wonderful articles on the background and effects of both works. If you want to read The War of the Worlds, this is the book for you.

As a child I always heard about the story and radio broadcast, and I had the 2 CD musical version created in the 70s. I never read the book, and I was always curious about the story and broadcast. This book is exactly what I wanted - the H.G. Wells original story, the radio adaptation text and extras like the press conference the day after, and a CD with the broadcast. Fabulous compilation!

I am an Old Time Radio fanatic. I love War or the Worlds and this book is the definte history of this imfamous radio broadcast. The Mercury Theater on The Air was such a great crew and this book tells a great deal about them.

An enjoyable novel, an enthralling recording, and a valuable reference book
The HG Wells novel is a fine piece of fantastic literature, but to combine it with a recording of the Orson Welles radio broadcast that panicked a nation, & to add a very well written scholarly text on that panic, is brilliant!

Well-illustrated with ample photographs, maps & drawings, the reader/listener gains a full understanding of the novel, the broadcast, & the cultural significance of both.

One can gain insight into the effect that news of terrorist strikes has on the public by careful, thoughtful reading of this text.

Highly recommended.

The Hipster gives it a Big Thumbs UP!

After finding this book in a local library and checking it out, I soon realized that I had to have my very own copy. So, I jumped onto Amazon and thankfully found one! For those who love classic War of the Worlds, this book is a huge slice of wonderful. I was thrilled with the CD that came with the book, too. This is a great resource and it would make a fine product for a Sci-Fi literature and / or media class.

Martians everywhere! The Invasion comes to you in the book and in the sounds. Worth the price!

i bought this book as a gift for a war of the worlds fan and he liked it a lot. The CD was good and the book contained both the script and original HG Wels novel. So all in all the book was a good purchase that contained everything that you have ever wanted to know about the beginning of War of the Worlds saga.