The War of the Worlds (Summarized Edition)
Enriched edition. A Victorian alien invasion of Woking and London—Martian tripods, heat-ray and black smoke, red weed, and a colonialism allegory.By H. G. Wells
Length2h 55m
About this audiobook
First published in 1898 after serialization, The War of the Worlds imagines a Martian assault that devastates Surrey and London. Wells blends eyewitness reportage with the speculative rigor of the scientific romance, producing a cool, pseudo-documentary narrative. Tripods, heat-ray, and black smoke estrange the familiar, reversing imperial confidence and channeling fin-de-siecle anxieties about industrial acceleration, biological struggle, and the brittleness of urban systems. Wells, trained in biology under T. H. Huxley, approached fiction as hypothesis testing. His early hardships and immersion in metropolitan modernity sharpened his sense of technology's double edge. Alongside The Time Machine and The Invisible Man, this novel mobilizes evolutionary thinking and imperial critique: extraterrestrial predation refracts Britain's own expansionism and exposes how specialization renders civilizations exquisitely vulnerable. Scholars of empire, readers of speculative fiction, and students of media history will find it indispensable. As adventure, it exhilarates; as argument, it cautions. Read it for its lucid architecture, its prescient meditations on invasion and panic, and its enduring lesson in scientific humility.
Quickie Classics summarizes timeless works with precision, preserving the author's voice and keeping the prose clear, fast, and readable—distilled, never diluted. Enriched Edition extras: Introduction · Synopsis · Historical Context · Author Biography · Brief Analysis · 4 Reflection Q&As · Editorial Footnotes.
Audiobook details
GenreScience Fiction
Length2 hrs 55 mins
Narrated byListen with 1,000+ voices
FormateBook with Audio
Publish dateJan 12, 2026
LanguageEnglish
Table of contents
1Introduction
2Introduction
3Synopsis
4Historical Context
5Author Biography
Show all chaptersShow less
6Book One. The Coming of the Martians
7Chapter One. The Eve Of The War
8Chapter Two. The Falling Star
9Chapter Three. On Horsell Common
10Chapter Four. The Cylinder Opens
11Chapter Five. The HeatRay
12Chapter Six. The HeatRay In The Chobham Road
13Chapter Seven. How I Reached Home
14Chapter Eight. Friday Night
15Chapter Nine. The Fighting Begins
16Chapter Ten. In The Storm
17Chapter Eleven. At The Window
18Chapter Twelve. What I Saw Of The Destruction
19Chapter Thirteen. How I Fell In With The Curate
20Chapter Fourteen. In London
21Chapter Fifteen. What Had Happened In Surrey
22Chapter Sixteen. The Exodus From London
23Chapter Seventeen. The “Thunder Child”
24Book Two. The Earth Under the Martians
25Chapter One. Under Foot
26Chapter Two. What We Saw From The Ruined House
27Chapter Three. The Days Of Imprisonment
28Chapter Four. The Death Of The Curate
29Chapter Five. The Stillness
30Chapter Six. The Work Of Fifteen Days
31Chapter Seven. The Man On Putney Hill
32Chapter Eight. Dead London
33Chapter Nine. Wreckage
34Chapter Ten. The Epilogue
35Analysis
36Reflection
Die Riesen kommen!H. G. Wells9h 48m$1 · $0.00
Der LuftkriegH. G. Wells12h 54m$1 · $0.00
INTERGALACTIC ENTERPRISE: 60+ Space Sci-Fi Novels in One EditionH. G. Wells, Percy Greg, Jules Verne, David Lindsay, Edward Everett Hale, H. Beam Piper, Philip K. Dick, E. E. Smith, Murray Leinster, Fritz Leiber, Richard Stockham, Irving E. Cox, Frederik Pohl, Edwin Lester Arnold, John Jacob Astor, Gustavus W. Pope310h 58m$0.99 · $0.00
The Greatest Science Fiction Classics of H. G. Wells (Unabridged) (Annotated)H. G. Wells98h 56m$2 · $0.00
Greatest Science Fiction Classics of H. G. Wells (Annotated)H. G. Wells98h 56m$2 · $0.00
Men Like Gods (Annotated)H. G. Wells11h 7m$2 · $0.00
Tono-Bungay (Annotated)H. G. Wells17h 8m$2 · $0.00
An Englishman Looks at the World (Annotated)H. G. Wells12h 43m$2 · $0.00
Die Insel des Dr. Moreau (Kommentiert)H. G. Wells, Felix Paul Greve6h 16m$1 · $0.00
First and Last Things - A Confession of Faith and Rule of Life (Annotated)H. G. Wells7h 45m$2 · $0.00
Select Conversations With An Uncle & 2 Other Reminiscences (The original 1895 edition) (Annotated)H. G. Wells3h 22m$2 · $0.00
The War of The Worlds - A Science Fiction Classic (Complete Edition) (Annotated)H. G. Wells8h 27m$2 · $0.00
The Wheels of Chance (Complete Edition) (Annotated)H. G. Wells8h 7m$2 · $0.00
The Door in the Wall and Other Stories (Annotated)H. G. Wells6h 7m$2 · $0.00
THE PORTAL OF TIME: Sci-Fi Time Travel Collection (Annotated)H. G. Wells, Ayn Rand, Mark Twain, H. Beam Piper, Philip K. Dick, Fritz Leiber, Andre Norton, Lester Del Rey, August Derleth, Frederik Pohl53h 17m$2 · $0.00
La guerra de los mundos (Anotado)H. G. Wells8h 9m$1.99 · $0.00
Die Zeitmaschine (Kommentiert)H. G. Wells5h 40m$1.50 · $0.00
The Dream (Annotated)H. G. Wells10h 18m$2 · $0.00
H. G. Wells: Collected Works (Annotated)H. G. Wells427h 28m$2 · $0.00
Collected Novels, Short Stories, Essays and Articles (Annotated)H. G. Wells431h 30m$2 · $0.00
Sons of War 4: SoldiersNicholas Sansbury Smith, Tom Abrahams12h 54m$25
Hell to PayMichael Anderle7h 50m$20
A Civil CampaignLois McMaster Bujold18h 49m$32
Warrior’s FateWalt Browning10h 37m$20
The RisenErica Stevens10h 17m$20
100 Years to ExtinctionPeter Solomon14h 48m$27
Amazing Tales Volume 1Max Williams et al.4h 5m$2.30
H. G. Wells: Collected Works (Annotated)H. G. Wells427h 28m$2 · $0.00
Scars of RebellionAnthony J. Melchiorri12h 56m$25
The Galaxy, and the Ground WithinBecky Chambers9h 56m$29 · $0.00
AvengerBlair Howard9h 54m$23
Core’s AttackS.E. Smith5h 57m$17
TimelessR. A. Salvatore12h 30m$33 · $0.00
The Extinction New Zealand Series Box SetAdrian J. Smith23h 7m$30
The Quantum ChainNick Jones12h 59m$23
Thud!Terry Pratchett12h 29m$8 · $0.00
We’re AliveKc Wayland5h 10m$15
Science Fiction & Fantasy CollectionH. P. Lovecraft16h 32m$2 · $0.00
GhostdriftSuzanne Palmer13h 38m$27
Before the Coffee Gets Cold: A Toshikazu Kawaguchi Book SetToshikazu Kawaguchi18h 55m$40 · $0.00
You may also like
The War of the WorldsH. G. Wells6h 35m$21 · $0.00
The War of the WorldsH. G. Wells6h 22m$23
The War of the WorldsJohn Long, The Dasilva Theatre Players1h 3m$3 · $0.00
The War of The Worlds - A Science Fiction Classic (Complete Edition) (Annotated)H. G. Wells8h 27m$2 · $0.00
The War of the WorldsH. G. Wells6h 35m$2.30 · $0.00
50+ Space Action Adventure ClassicsH. G. Wells, Stanley G. Weinbaum, Jules Verne, Otis Adelbert Kline, Edgar Wallace, Percy Greg, David Lindsay, Edward Everett Hale, Malcolm Jameson168h 21m$2 · $0.00
BEYOND SPACESHIP EARTH: 50+ Sci-Fi Books in One VolumeJules Verne, Percy Greg, David Lindsay, Edward Everett Hale, Edgar Wallace, H. G. Wells, Stanley G. Weinbaum, Malcolm Jameson, Otis Adelbert Kline168h 2m$1 · $0.00
Voyage Beyond the StarsJules Verne, Percy Greg, David Lindsay, Edward Everett Hale, Edgar Wallace, H. G. Wells, Stanley G. Weinbaum, Malcolm Jameson, Otis Adelbert Kline168h 21m$2 · $0.00
SNAFU: ContagionAmanda J. Spedding, Geoff Brown13h 41m$27
The War of the WorldsH. G. Wells6h 43m$17
Biography of ResistanceMuhammad H. Zaman8h 3m$26 · $0.00
Astounding Stories Of Super Science November 1930Various Various8h 6m$2.30
ChokepointJonathan Maberry45m$4 · $0.00
THE WAR OF THE WORLDS (Annotated)H. G. Wells8h 26m$2 · $0.00
THE FINAL FRONTIER: Sci-Fi Space Boxed Set: Intergalactic Wars, Alien Attacks & Space Adventure Novels (50+ Titles in One Edition)H. G. Wells, Otis Adelbert Kline, Edgar Wallace, Percy Greg, David Lindsay, Edward Everett Hale, Stanley G. Weinbaum, Malcolm Jameson, C. S. Lewis, Jules Verne200h 15m$2 · $0.00
Extinction EdgeNicholas Sansbury Smith8h 2m$20
End TimeDaniel Greene11h 16m$20
The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook: ApocalypseDavid Borgenicht, Joshua Piven4h 31m$15
The War of the WorldsH. G. Wells6h 50m$5 · $0.00
e-Pedia: 10 Cloverfield LaneWikipedia contributors67h 4m$2 · $0.00