The Invisible Man. War of the Worlds. The Time Machine. The Island of Doctor Moreau

The most important contribution of H. G. Wells to world culture is his development of science fiction. The powerful impetus he gave it is still felt today. The collection includes four of the writer's most iconic works: "The Invisible Man", "The War of the Worlds", "The Time Machine" and "The Island of Dr. Moreau". And in the XXI century, these masterfully written works continue to retain their extraordinary popularity. The design of the collection features illustrations by Czech artist Luis Strimple, his Brazilian colleague Henrique Correa, and English artist James McConnell. In our time, we would call the famous English writer Herbert Wells not just a science fiction writer, but a futurist. He was vividly interested in the future. In addition to dozens of novels, he left behind about 30 volumes with political and social forecasts. Much of what the writer predicted came true. It is not by chance that in 1941, five years before his death, Wells wanted the text of the epitaph on his tomb to include the phrase: "I warned you. You damned fools!". The powerful impetus that the writer gave to science fiction is still felt today. However, the secret of Wells' success is not in the predictions. Jules Verne also foresaw and giant submarines, and space flights to the moon, but it is fantastic works of Wells continue to screen and reprint and in the XXI? The secret of the writer's success is that his fantastic novels raise acute social and psychological problems - the stratification of society, the responsibility of scientists to society for their inventions, the reactions of different people to the global danger, the desire of an individual to put himself above others ... This collection includes four such landmark works of the writer: "The Invisible Man", "The War of the Worlds", "The Time Machine" and "The Island of Dr. Moreau". The book's design features illustrations by several artists at once. Czech graphic artist Louis Strimple was born in Prague in 1880 and studied drawing at the Munich Academy of Fine Arts. At the beginning of the 20th century he went to Paris, where he began collaborating with a number of publishers and magazines. After World War I, Strimple worked in the diplomatic field; he was Czechoslovakia's ambassador to Brussels with the status of minister plenipotentiary, then returned to Prague, where he worked in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. However, it was as an illustrator and a fine draftsman who made history by masterfully conveying the atmosphere of the Art Nouveau period. Strimple's drawing, which appeared on the cover of H.G. Wells's novel The Invisible Man, published in Paris in 1912, was the most striking visual representation of the tragic fate of the invisible inventor, who is made an outcast by his own ambition and coincidence. Another artist whose work graces the collection is the Brazilian illustrator Henrique Correa. He too studied drawing in Paris and in the early 20th century became famous for his illustrations for H.G. Wells' The War of the Worlds, which are reproduced in this book. The third artist of the collection, James McConnell, masterfully conveys the atmosphere of traveling to the future in his works.