Anyone who knows me knows that my interest in (obsession with?) H. G. Wells has only grown with the passing of time. There is not an important topic of the Victorian era that Wells doesn't have something to say to, I reckon. So it's only natural that my review of H. G. Wells's autobiography is probably among the longest book reviews I ever wrote. Thus, in honor of H. G. Wells's 150th birthday this week, I'm running my review of it in five parts, breaking it up to cover five semi-distinct topics. I normally copy reviews from my blog to LibraryThing, but this one is too long to go through that process, so here's each part:

§1. Wells in the Twentieth Century
§2. Ways of Seeing: Science and Education
§3. Wells's Writing and Wells on Writing
§4. Wells's Personal Life
§5. The World State

http://www.online-literature.com/wellshg/

Wells had another decade to live after he finished this autobiography. Features that attracted me were his observations and personal experience with the difficulty English young people had moving into higher education. They were shunted at an early age into jobs and apprenticeships with no chance to explore opportunities that would lead to a better life. He taught adults in various forms of continuing education and develped definite ideas. His fame gave him access to interviews with both Presidents Roosevelt and Stalin.

His impression of President and Mrs. F D Roosevelt, at the beginning of the New Deal I believed to be fair, positve and right on. Having to work through a translator produced a less than satisfactory interview with Stalin.

Wells was commited to international planning and the League of Nations. Having experienced the horror of World War I, not knowing what was to come his interest in world government seems logical. It was interesting that he did not include Hitler in his interviews.

Beautiful portraits ( )