Length15h 50m
About this audiobook
Wells had a keen interest in the political and social issues of his day, one of the most significant of which was the outbreak of the First World War. This book, written in 1916, presents the story of Mr Britling, a political commentator, living in comfortable security in his country estate at Matchings Easy, in Essex. He entertains a varied assembly of guests, including Mr Direck, an American journalist, and Herr Heinrich, a German philology student who acts as a family tutor, and the general atmosphere is a hectic social whirl, involving wild games of hockey, extravagant dinners, and florid conversation. This avoidant conviviality is shattered by the military adventurism of Germany and Austria, and the resultant involvement of other countries on the European continent in a world war. Even though Mr Britling remains in England, the war has major ramifications on his family and friends, and his view of the world.
In the middle of the book, Wells presents his own succinct summary of the action: “This story is essentially the history of the opening and of the realization of the Great War as it happened to one small group of people in Essex, and more particularly as it happened to one human brain. It came at first to all these people in a spectacular manner, as a thing happening dramatically and internationally, as a show, as something in the newspapers, something in the character of an historical epoch rather than a personal experience; only by slow degrees did it and its consequences invade the common texture of English life. If this story could be represented by sketches or pictures the central figure would be Mr. Britling.”
Audiobook details
Rating★★★★ 3.9 (1K)
Includes LibraryThing, Goodreads, Amazon
GenreLiterary Classics
Length15 hrs 50 mins
Narrated byDenis Daly, Marty Krz
FormatAudiobook
Publish dateJan 16, 2024
LanguageEnglish
The War of the WorldsH. G. Wells5h 55m4.0 (418K)$14
The War of the WorldsH. G. Wells6h 43m4.0 (404K)$17
Love & Mr. LewishamH. G. Wells8h 4m3.6 (1.2K)$20
This Misery of BootsH. G. Wells48m3.5 (30)$8
The War of the WorldsH. G. Wells6h 22m3.9 (416.6K)$23
The Time MachineH. G. Wells3h 19m4.0 (523K)$15
H.G. Wells Short Stories, Vol. 3H. G. Wells5h 44m4.0 (22)$17
Men like GodsH. G. Wells8h 46m3.7 (1.8K)$17
The Invisible ManH. G. Wells5h 20m3.8 (264.7K)$14
Short Stories - Volume TwoH. G. Wells6h 50m4.0 (22)$17
When the Sleeper WakesH. G. Wells8h 52m3.5 (6.4K)$20
The Time MachineH. G. Wells1h 21m4.0 (655.8K)$12
Short Stories - Volume OneH. G. Wells7h 17m3.9 (22)$17
The Wheels of Chance: A Bicycling IdyllH. G. Wells8h 7m3.6 (1.4K)$23
The World Set FreeH. G. Wells9h 6m3.6 (2.5K)$23
Tono-BungayH. G. Wells14h 38m3.9 (12.5K)$27
Unique SelectionsH. G. Wells7h 24m$23
In the Days of the CometH. G. Wells9h 14m3.5 (3K)$23
The War in the AirH. G. Wells11h 19m3.7 (2.2K)$25
To Kill a MockingbirdHarper Lee12h 18m4.5 (7.4M)$29 · $0.00
These Precious DaysAnn Patchett11h 14m4.5 (45.2K)$29 · $0.00
The Great Gatsby: Original 1925 Edition (An F. Scott Fitzgerald Classic NovelFrancis Scott Fitzgerald4h 45m4.6 (9.3K)$18 · $0.00
The Complete Histories / History Plays of William Shakespeare (Annotated)William Shakespeare29h 42m4.6 (2.3K)$1.99 · $0.00
Braving the TruthRachel Held Evans11h 31m4.7 (359)$29 · $0.00
The Old Man and the Sea (Annotated)Ernest Hemingway4h 27m4.6 (1.4K)$2 · $0.00
Twelfth Night (The Unabridged Play) + The Classic Biography (Annotated)William Shakespeare, Sidney Lee16h 38m4.6 (1.4K)$2 · $0.00
Henry V (The Play, Historical Background and Analysis of the Character in the Play)William Shakespeare, William Hazlitt8h 40m4.6 (1.3K)$1 · $0.00
H. P. LOVECRAFT Ultimate Collection: Novellas, Short Stories, Poetry & Essays (Annotated)H. P. Lovecraft12h 28m4.6 (2.3K)$2 · $0.00
Time RegainedMarcel Proust15h 54m4.5 (10.6K)$2 · $0.00
TORAH - Bilingual Edition: English/Hebrew (Annotated)Max Margolis, JPS28h 26m4.6 (1K)$2 · $0.00
Betty Crocker picture cooky bookBetty Crocker, Inc. General Mills2h 13m4.5 (6.5K)$1 · $0.00
The Complete Tales of Beatrix PotterBeatrix Potter3h 36m4.5 (75K)$3 · $0.00
Crime and Punishment (The Unabridged Garnett Translation) (Annotated)Fyodor Dostoevsky24h 25m4.5 (15.4K)$1.99 · $0.00
The North American IndianEdward S. Curtis, Frederick Webb Hodge6h4.5 (1.2K)$2 · $0.00
The Picture of Dorian Gray: The Uncensored 13 Chapter Version + The Revised 20 Chapter Version (Annotated)Oscar Wilde16h 12m4.5 (2.8K)$1.99 · $0.00
Grimoire Of The Everyday WitchIsadora Lys / Virginia Santos5h 35m4.5 (3.9K)$9 · $0.00
Winnie-the-PoohAlan Alexander Milne2h 52m4.5 (401.1K)$3 · $0.00
Sitting PrettyRebekah Taussig7h 33m4.5 (18.9K)$26 · $0.00
The Poetic Edda & The Prose EddaSnorri Sturluson, Saemund Sigfusson9h 34m4.5 (4K)$1 · $0.00
You may also like
Mr. Britling Sees It ThroughH. G.15h 40m3.8 (1.7K)$3.50 · $0.00
A Chill in the AirIris Origo4h 20m4.2 (1.2K)$20 · $0.00
Miss BuntingAngela Thirkell12h4.0 (1.1K)$2 · $0.00
Logical FamilyArmistead Maupin8h 26m4.3 (4.8K)$26 · $0.00
Rilla of Ingleside (Annotated)Lucy Maud Montgomery13h 27m4.4 (67.1K)$2 · $0.00
The Little VirtuesGinzburg, Natalia3h 48m4.2 (13.8K)Free
The Heroes' WelcomeLouisa Young8h 30m4.0 (1.2K)$26 · $0.00
The YearsVirginia Woolf13h 31m3.9 (7K)$23
LifePope Francis6h 59m4.3 (3.1K)$24 · $0.00
Return to JalnaMazo de la Roche15h 56m4.0 (330)$3.50 · $0.00
John Lennon: The LifePhilip Norman12h 51m4.3 (13.3K)$33 · $0.00
The Long Tail of TraumaElizabeth Wilcox9h 2m4.2 (301)$24 · $0.00
Screaming on the InsideJessica Grose6h 30m3.8 (5.2K)$24 · $0.00
Small Acts of DefianceMichelle Wright10h 22m4.0 (1.6K)$29 · $0.00
Mr. Britling Sees It ThroughH. G. Wells17h 1m3.7 (279)$1 · $0.00
A Son at the FrontEdith Wharton10h 54m3.6 (910)$23
Guarding GableNat Segaloff5h4.4 (11)$15
Within the Rim, and Other Essays, 1914-15Henry James2h 39m$2 · $0.00
HadassahHadassah Lieberman5h 6m4.2 (26)$15
Why We Remain JewsVladimir A. Tsesis MD7h 56m4.6 (11)$20