The English writer Herbert Wells is one of the founders of science fiction, the author of about two hundred books, a writer whose fictions, ideas, observations, predictions, warnings, and educational efforts changed the consciousness of people in the 20th century. In addition to the famous novels, the titles and images of which have firmly entered the language and cultural heritage of humanity, Wells also created nearly a hundred stories marked by inexhaustible imagination, a wide thematic repertoire, and consistently engaging plots. This collection includes significant examples of the author's shorter prose: here is an early novella that anticipated the conflicts of "The Time Machine" and "The Invisible Man," witty observations on the characters and manners of the English, stories about the creative struggles of artists, ironic detective tales, a dark study of postponed revenge, a burlesque from the life of an aviation pioneer, an anti-utopian novella about a distant future, and, of course, fantastic stories about the mysterious and unexplainable…
