FIRST MEN IN THE MOON

Nearly 70 years before men first walked on the Moon, Herbert George Wells (born 1866) was exploring what might be awaiting them here in this novel published in 1900. In one of the earliest works of science fiction, he brings to life the joys of space travel and humanity's boundless curiosity when penniless businessman Bedford moves to Kent to write a play and meets the mad scientist who is developing an antigravity metal. The businessman Mr Bedford and the scientist Mr Cavor make their way to the Moon and discover a race of intelligent insect-like creatures called 'Selenites'. Explaining his ideas through flight of pure fancy such as 'antigravity' rather than strict scientific reasoning, the book was criticised by contemporaries like Jules Verne, yet the joy of adventure and the unbridled curiosity of the human spirit he presents have entertained readers for more than a century. 272pp in new full price paperback.