The War in the Air is a novel by H. G. Wells, written in 1907, serialized and published in 1908. Like many of Wells’s works, it is notable for its prophetic ideas, images, and concepts, in this case, the use of the airplane for the purpose of warfare and the coming of World War I. The novel's hero is Bert Smallways, a forward-thinking young man, a "kind of bicycle engineer of the let's-have-a-look-at-it and enamel chipping variety."
Wells envisio...
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The War in the Air is a novel by H. G. Wells, written in 1907, serialized and published in 1908. Like many of Wells’s works, it is notable for its prophetic ideas, images, and concepts, in this case, the use of the airplane for the purpose of warfare and the coming of World War I. The novel's hero is Bert Smallways, a forward-thinking young man, a "kind of bicycle engineer of the let's-have-a-look-at-it and enamel chipping variety."
Wells envisions a world in which China and Japan form an alliance of Eastern Asia; Germany is aggressive and thrusting; and the United States is a country torn apart "in violent conflict between Federal and State governments upon the question of universal service in a defensive militia." The British Empire is a more pacific power, whose possessions are scattered across the globe, and distracted by "insurrectionary movements in Ireland and among all its Subject Races. It had given these subject races cigarettes, boots, bowler hats, cricket, race meetings,...
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