H. G. Wells (1866-1946), whose creative career spanned a half century between the late Victorian age and the dropping of the first atom bomb, was one of the most confidently prolific of modern authors. In this 1974 study, Kenneth Young reviews Wells's development first as a creator of scientific romances, then as a writer of semi-autobiographical fiction, and finally as a publicist and prophet of world affairs—the last being the most ephemeral category of his work.

A volume in the Writers and Their Work series, which draws upon recent thinking in English studies to introduce writers and their contexts. Each volume includes biographical material, an examination of recent criticism, a bibliography and a reappraisal of a major work by the writer.