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The H. G. Wells Library
A curious library stands open at the edge of time. Here, the worlds of H. G. Wells are not merely remembered but awakened, their voices carried once more across the invisible ether. The H. G. Wells Library presents complete readings of tales that peer into futures yet unborn, confront the machinery of progress, and question the destiny of humankind itself. From silent laboratories to distant planets, each episode invites the listener to wander as both observer and traveller, discovering…
Episodes
- The H. G. Wells Library
A Modern Utopia Chapter 11 - The Bubble Bursts
In which the fragile and vivid dream of a perfect society is challenged by the stubborn scars of human pasts and the intractable realities of everyday life…
- The H. G. Wells Library
A Modern Utopia Chapter 9 - The Samurai, Sections 4-5
In which the nature and governance of the samurai order, voluntary custodians of Utopian society who diligently uphold a common rule designed to cultivate…
- The H. G. Wells Library
A Modern Utopia Chapter 10 - Race in Utopia, Sections 1-2
In which the perpetual tension in the human soul between individuality and the desire for communal belonging is examined through the lens of sociology and the…
- The H. G. Wells Library
A Modern Utopia Chapter 9 - The Samurai, Sections 6-8
In which the observer is introduced to the austere yet profoundly personal discipline of the samurai, whose lives are marked by solemn pilgrimages into…
- The H. G. Wells Library
A Modern Utopia Chapter 7 - A Few Utopian Impressions, Sections 4-7
In which the narrator contemplates the absence of animals in Utopia and reflects on the necessary sacrifices that accompany a perfected society, while engaging…
- The H. G. Wells Library
A Modern Utopia Chapter 8 - My Utopian Self
In which the narrator encounters a profound and uncanny meeting with his Utopian double, initiating a tender and reflective discourse on identity, memory, and…
- The H. G. Wells Library
A Modern Utopia Chapter 9 - The Samurai, Sections 1-3
In which the narrator and his Utopian double delve into the profound political organisation of Utopia, centred around the samurai—an austere order dedicated to…
- The H. G. Wells Library
A Modern Utopia Chapter 6 - Women in a Modern Utopia, Sections 1-4
In which a thoughtful discourse unfolds upon the complexities of human relationships within a perfected society, reflecting on the emotional entanglements…
- The H. G. Wells Library
A Modern Utopia Chapter 7 - A Few Utopian Impressions, Sections 1-3
In which the narrator takes up residence in a Utopian township by the Lake of Lucerne, observing the simple yet graceful architecture, communal living…
- The H. G. Wells Library
A Modern Utopia Chapter 6 - Women in a Modern Utopia, Sections 5-6
In which the complex and delicate institution of marriage in Utopia is examined with a keen eye for the interplay between individual emotions, social duties…
- The H. G. Wells Library
A Modern Utopia Chapter 4 - The Voice of Nature
In which the travellers, encountering a loquacious and unconventional Utopian devoted to natural simplicity, are drawn into a spirited discourse on the nature…
- The H. G. Wells Library
A Modern Utopia Chapter 5 - A Failure in a Modern Utopia, Sections 1-3
In which the sober realities of human imperfection and natural selection are confronted with a vision of a Modern Utopia that seeks neither to abolish…
- The H. G. Wells Library
A Modern Utopia Chapter 5 - A Failure in a Modern Utopia, Sections 4-8
In which the narrator and his companion explore a society governed by an intricate system of identification and social order, revealing a civilisation that…
- The H. G. Wells Library
A Modern Utopia Chapter 3 - Utopian Economics, Sections 1-4
In which we find ourselves contemplating the economic fabric of a vast and intricate world Utopia, where gold coins bearing Newton's image coexist with a…
- The H. G. Wells Library
A Modern Utopia Chapter 3 - Utopian Economics, Sections 5-8
In which the nature of property in a Modern Utopia is explored with a discerning eye, distinguishing intimately personal possessions from business ventures and…
- The H. G. Wells Library
A Modern Utopia Chapter 2 - Concerning Freedoms, Sections 4-7
In which we descend from alpine heights into a twilight Utopian valley, where the quiet glow of scattered homes and the soft murmur of courteous strangers…
- The H. G. Wells Library
A Modern Utopia Introduction: The Owner of the Voice
In which we are introduced to the peculiar narrator of these pages, a modestly portly gentleman whose distinctive and somewhat aggressive voice serves as the…
- The H. G. Wells Library
A Modern Utopia Chapter 1 - Topographical
In which we embark upon a contemplative excursion through the concept of a modern Utopia, not as a static paradise but as a dynamic, evolving world-state…
- The H. G. Wells Library
A Modern Utopia Chapter 2 - Concerning Freedoms, Sections 1-3
In which two strangers reflect upon the delicate balance of individual liberty and communal freedom in a Modern Utopia, considering the interplay of…
- The H. G. Wells Library
The Passionate Friends Chapter 11 - The Last Meeting Parts 1-6
In which the narrator finds himself amidst the tensions of a looming war while seeking solace and renewal in the majestic Swiss mountains, where chance and…
- The H. G. Wells Library
The Passionate Friends Chapter 11 - The Last Meeting Parts 7-12
In which the bittersweet parting between two kindred spirits in the Alps comes to a heart-wrenching close, stirring reflections on love, fidelity, and the…
- The H. G. Wells Library
The Passionate Friends Chapter 12 - The Arraignment of Jealousy
In which the narrator reflects from a quiet chamber on the sketchy and insufficient nature of telling a life in story, dwelling upon the profound but…
- The H. G. Wells Library
The Passionate Friends Chapter 10 - Mary Writes Parts 1-3
In which the narrator receives a long letter from Mary, stirring old feelings and revealing her troubled domestic life and reflections on their past connection…
- The H. G. Wells Library
The Passionate Friends Chapter 10 - Mary Writes Part 4
In which a letter from Mary disturbs the carefully constructed harmony of marriage and friendship, prompting a reflective examination of faith, life’s purpose…
- The H. G. Wells Library
The Passionate Friends Chapter 10 - Mary Writes Parts 5-7
In which a thoughtful woman engages in a prolonged and searching correspondence, grappling earnestly with the confounding place of women and the formidable…
- The H. G. Wells Library
The Passionate Friends Chapter 8 - This Swarming Business of Mankind Parts 3-6
In which a reflective traveller ponders the unfinished ambitions of great civilizations and discerns in the present age both the burden of inherited failures…
- The H. G. Wells Library
The Passionate Friends Chapter 9 - The Spirit of the New World Parts 1-7
In which the narrator encounters Rachel once more at a serene German villa, where their spirited conversations weave together personal revelations and…
- The H. G. Wells Library
The Passionate Friends Chapter 9 - The Spirit of the New World Parts 8-12
In which the narrator reflects on his arrival in America, finding in its bustling cities and spirited people a fresh embodiment of hope and freedom, and…
- The H. G. Wells Library
The Passionate Friends Chapter 7 - Beginning Again Parts 5-9
In which the narrator wrestles with the somber residue of a painful past and a restless mind, seeking solace in a newfound clarity that urges him beyond narrow…
- The H. G. Wells Library
The Passionate Friends Chapter 8 - This Swarming Business of Mankind Parts 1-2
In which the narrator, reflecting upon his extensive travels and contemplations, gradually constructs a broad and tentative understanding of human society as a…
- The H. G. Wells Library
The Passionate Friends Chapter 7 - Beginning Again Parts 1-4
In which the narrator, weighed down by the heavy burden of recent turmoil and fractured relationships, wanders from the grey halls of parting towards the…
- The H. G. Wells Library
The Passionate Friends Chapter 6 - Lady Mary Justin Parts 1-5
In which the narrator, having returned from war and bearing the complex experiences of adulthood, unexpectedly re-encounters Lady Mary Justin, stirring a…
- The H. G. Wells Library
The Passionate Friends Chapter 6 - Lady Mary Justin Parts 11-14
In which a sudden and mysterious disappearance leads the narrator upon a journey through tangled social conventions and personal anguish, confronting the…
- The H. G. Wells Library
The Passionate Friends Chapter 6 - Lady Mary Justin Parts 6-10
In which the delicate tensions of concealed love and societal conventions unfold with a gentle but relentless pressure, revealing the heavy cost of secrets and…
- The H. G. Wells Library
The Passionate Friends Chapter 4 - The Marriage of the Lady Mary Christian Parts 5-9
In which the young Stephen and Mary meet in a secluded garden to engage in a candid and tender conversation about love, freedom, and the practical…
- The H. G. Wells Library
The Passionate Friends Chapter 5 - The War in South Africa Parts 1-3
In which a young man recounts his transformative years spent in the throes of the war in South Africa, where he encounters the harsh realities of battle…
- The H. G. Wells Library
The Passionate Friends Chapter 5 - The War in South Africa Parts 4-6
In which the narrator recounts his arduous yet hopeful work of repatriating a war-ravaged country with diligent care, witnessing both the elemental human…
- The H. G. Wells Library
The Passionate Friends Chapter 3 - Intentions and the Lady Mary Christian Parts 7-11
In which the narrator reflects with tender affection on the extraordinary friendship and love shared with Mary, a woman of intellect and spirit who graciously…
- The H. G. Wells Library
The Passionate Friends Chapter 4 - The Marriage of the Lady Mary Christian Parts 1-4
In which the lingering intimacy between Stephen and Mary is shaded by the changing tides of social expectation and personal resolve, as their clandestine…
- The H. G. Wells Library
The Passionate Friends Chapter 3 - Intentions and the Lady Mary Christian Parts 1-6
In which a young man’s early ambitions for public service and imperial grandeur are candidly revealed against the backdrop of an English boarding school and…
- The H. G. Wells Library
The Passionate Friends Chapter 1 - Mr. Stratton to His Son
In which a father, moved by the recent death of his own father and the vulnerable childhood of his son, resolves to compose a candid and heartfelt account of…
- The H. G. Wells Library
The Passionate Friends Chapter 2 - Boyhood Parts 1-3
In which a young narrator reflects upon his formative years spent amid the serene and expansive landscapes of Burnmore Park and the stern but earnest…
- The H. G. Wells Library
The Passionate Friends Chapter 2 - Boyhood Parts 4-7
In which a young lad’s character is moulded through the stern and exacting tutelage of Mr. Siddons, shaping him into a dutiful English boy acutely aware of the…
- The H. G. Wells Library
The Country of the Blind and Other Stories - The Country of the Blind
In which a mountaineer finds himself cast into an isolated valley inhabited solely by blind people whose lives have adapted in curious and ingenious ways to…
- The H. G. Wells Library
The Country of the Blind and Other Stories - The Beautiful Suit
In which a youthful soul, tenderly endowed with a resplendent suit fashioned by a mother's devoted hands, wrestles with the strict injunctions to preserve its…
- The H. G. Wells Library
The Country of the Blind and Other Stories - The Door in the Wall
In which a man recounts the haunting memory of a mysterious green door in a white wall that once led him to an enchanted garden of beauty and joy, a secret…
- The H. G. Wells Library
The Country of the Blind and Other Stories - The Magic Shop
In which a father and his son enter a peculiar Magic Shop in Regent Street, where genuine enchantments and extraordinary tricks abound, drawing the boy into a…
- The H. G. Wells Library
The Country of the Blind and Other Stories - The Empire of the Ants
In which Captain Gerilleau and the engineer Holroyd journey up the vast, indifferent Amazon to confront an unprecedented menace: extraordinarily large…
- The H. G. Wells Library
The Country of the Blind and Other Stories - The New Accelerator
In which a devoted physiologist, Professor Gibberne, pursues an elusive all-encompassing stimulant and at last unveils the extraordinary New Accelerator, a…
- The H. G. Wells Library
The Country of the Blind and Other Stories - The Valley of Spiders
In which three determined men pursue their elusive quarry through a vast and desolate valley, encountering strange and ominous phenomena that unsettle both…
- The H. G. Wells Library
The Country of the Blind and Other Stories - The Truth about Pyecraft
In which the curious case of Pyecraft’s relentless fatness and his secret attempts to reduce it through his great-grandmother’s bewildering medicinal recipes…
- The H. G. Wells Library
The Country of the Blind and Other Stories - A Dream of Armageddon
In which a weary gentleman recounts a haunting series of vivid dreams that entwine love and looming global conflict, transporting him to a distant future where…
- The H. G. Wells Library
The Country of the Blind and Other Stories - Jimmy Goggles the God
In which a sunburnt man recounts his extraordinary tale of survival, diving, and unexpected deification among tropical savages after the wreck of the Ocean…
- The H. G. Wells Library
The Country of the Blind and Other Stories - Miss Winchelsea's Heart
In which Miss Winchelsea embarks on an eagerly anticipated journey to Rome with two companions, where she encounters a refined young man whose cultured…
- The H. G. Wells Library
The Country of the Blind and Other Stories - A Vision of Judgement
In which the narrator awakens to an unimaginable celestial tribunal where souls from all eras gather before the Almighty to confront their earthly deeds, while…
- The H. G. Wells Library
The Country of the Blind and Other Stories - The Man Who Could Work Miracles
In which George McWhirter Fotheringay, a modest clerk and sceptic, discovers he possesses the astonishing ability to perform miracles by sheer willpower…
- The H. G. Wells Library
The Country of the Blind and Other Stories - The Star
In which a strange and blazing celestial visitor, borne from the shadowy reaches beyond Neptune, suddenly disturbs the orderly heavens and commands the awe and…
- The H. G. Wells Library
The Country of the Blind and Other Stories - A Slip Under the Microscope
In which a young biological student, caught between fervent intellectual debates and the burgeoning sentiments of youth, navigates the rigours of academic…
- The H. G. Wells Library
The Country of the Blind and Other Stories - The Crystal Egg
In which a humble curiosity shop becomes the scene of a singular discovery—a crystal egg that bewilderingly reveals visions of a distant and wondrous land…
- The H. G. Wells Library
The Country of the Blind and Other Stories - The Purple Pileus
In which a modest shopkeeper, oppressed by domestic discord and the strenuous demands of business, stumbles upon a curious and beguiling fungus in a pine wood…