Washington and the Riddle of Peace

H. G. Wells

sept 2006 · Cosimo, Inc.

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[T]his fate is not threatening civilization; it is happening to civilization before our eyes. The ship of civilization is not going to sink in five years' time or in fifty years' time. It is sinking now. -from "The Immensity of the Issue and the Triviality of Man" In the wake of World War I, the victor nations came together to shape the postwar era... and in doing so, laid the ground for the next great war. That was already obvious in 1921, when H. G. Wells gathered in one volume his essays for the New York World, the Chicago Tribune, and other American and European newspapers written in reaction to what he saw and heard at the Washington Conference to organize the peace. Though known, along with Jules Verne, as one of the 19th-century fathers of science fiction, here Wells explores more down-to-earth issues, from the "problem" of Russia and Japan-and how little could hope to be accomplished at this conference without their participation-to the "economic decadence" of the world and how to arrest it. Wells' intriguing foresight shines through, making this a fascinating document of the international disaster of the World Wars. British author HERBERT GEORGE WELLS (1866-1946) is best known for his groundbreaking science fiction novels The Time Machine (1895), The Invisible Man (1897), and The War of the Worlds (1898). ALSO FROM COSIMO: Wells's God the Invisible King, A Short History of the World, and The Soul of a Bishop.

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H. G. Wells was born in Bromley, England on September 21, 1866. After a limited education, he was apprenticed to a draper, but soon found he wanted something more out of life. He read widely and got a position as a student assistant in a secondary school, eventually winning a scholarship to the Royal College of Science in South Kensington, where he studied biology. He graduated from London University in 1888 and became a science teacher. He also wrote for magazines. When his stories began to sell, he left teaching to write full time. He became an author best known for science fiction novels and comic novels. His science fiction novels include The Time Machine, The War of the Worlds, The Wonderful Visit, The Island of Doctor Moreau, The Invisible Man, The First Men in the Moon, and The Food of the Gods. His comic novels include Love and Mr. Lewisham, Kipps: The Story of a Simple Soul, The History of Mr. Polly, and Tono-Bungay. He also wrote several short story collections including The Stolen Bacillus, The Plattner Story, and Tales of Space and Time. He died on August 13, 1946 at the age of 79.