The War of the Worlds is a classic of literary and genre fiction. The story of humanity pitted against vastly superior invaders told from a personal and humanist point of view. Still relevant and illuminating despite its age. 'No one would have believed in the last years of the nineteenth century that this world was being watched keenly and closely by intelligences greater than man's...' So begins H. G. Wells' classic novel in which Martian lifeforms take over planet Earth. As the Martians emerge, they construct giant killing machines - armed with heatrays - that are impervious to attack. Advancing upon London they destroy everything in their path. Everything, except the few humans they collect in metal traps. Victorian England is a place in which the steam engine is state-of-the-art technology and powered flight is just a dream. Mankind is helpless against the killing machines from Mars, and soon the survivors are left living in a new stone age. The War of the Worlds has been praised for its prediction of technology, its cultural criticism of Victorian England, and its influence on science fiction that led to later works on alien invasions. The popularity of The War of the Worlds garnered wildly different interpretations in aspects such as evolution, religion, and even colonialism and imperialism. Despite its heapings of social criticism, it remains a thrilling and enjoyable read for those who wish to read one of the stories that birthed the genre of science fiction.