H.G. Wells wrote both fiction and non-fiction. He worked in many genres including novels, history, and social commentaries. Wells was a leading socialist. Tono-Bungay is a pleasant tasting liquid placebo. George Ponderevo is hired by his uncle to sell the liquid as a miraculous medicine with far reaching curative powers. The success of this product makes George and his uncle very rich. The social consequences come to the forefront in this novel.