First World War Fiction

The War of the Worlds is the classic alien-invasion novel: Martian cylinders fall down upon a complacent Victorian England, unleashing towering tripods, heat rays and poisonous black smoke. An unnamed writer is among the humans trying to flee, and it is through his eyes that we see the shattering of ordinary life by beings with advanced intelligence and weaponry. The novel's terror is timeless. Its depiction of technological shock, mass panic and sudden ruin feels both fantastical and unnervingly possible. It exposes the arrogance of empire and the horror of facing a power we don't understand.

The War of the Worlds introduced the idea of alien invasion to the world. Featuring inscrutable extra-terrestrials armed with a terrifying array of weapons, including the Heat-Ray, robotic killing machines walking on three legs, and 'black smoke', the novel resonated with Victorian Britain. The ingenious creations of Wells' mind stood out from the abundance of invasion literature that was flooding the market at the time.

Ken Follett’s magnificent new historical epic begins as five interrelated families move through the momentous dramas of the First World War, the Russian Revolution, and the struggle for women’s suffrage. A thirteen-year-old Welsh boy enters a man’s world in the mining pits. . . . An...

An Anthology of Poetry and Prose written by Women in the First World War. War Girls is a commemoration and celebration of the remarkable, often deeply moving and largely unsung experiences of women in the First World War told in their own words. Through poetry, journals and letters this audio book documents the contribution made by women from all walks of society - from campaigning for peace to working on the home front and in the services.

The novel begins with humans watching the skies closely, fascinated with the worlds beyond Earth’s atmosphere. As astronomers and scientists hone in on some strange occurrences on Mars, their observations soon become frightening - humans are not the only intelligent beings, and those other beings are also curious about humans. Alien spacecraft starts crashing into England and as Martians emerge from the ships, they begin terrorizing the Earth and bringing destruction with every step.

The Martians, finding the resources on their own planet dwindling dramatically, decided to invade and colonize Earth. They land in England and quickly establish control through their vastly superior military technology. The narrative focuses on the wanderings and deliberations of the narrator as he wanders around the country seeking refuge from the remorseless invaders. Two of the most significant characters he encounters are a curate and an artilleryman, neither of whom has an effective approach to dealing with the crisis.

The War of the Worlds is a science fiction novel by H. G. Wells. Written between 1895 and 1897, it is one of the earliest stories to detail a conflict between mankind and an extraterrestrial race. The novel is the first-person narrative of both an unnamed protagonist in Surrey and of his younger brother in London as southern England is invaded by Martians.

A peaceful night in Surrey is shattered when what is thought to be a meteor crashes into Horsell Common. Curious villagers approach the strange cylindrical object, only to be incinerated by a Martian heat-ray. Soon the invaders are sending out their terrible ’tripods’, causing devastation throughout England as ‘intellects vast and cool and unsympathetic’ gradually seek to eradicate the human race.

When an army of invading Martians lands in England, panic and terror seize the population. As the aliens traverse the country in huge three-legged machines, incinerating all in their path with a heat ray and spreading noxious toxic gases, the people of the Earth must come to terms with the prospect of the end of human civilization and the beginning of Martian rule.

The War of the Worlds is HG Wells’ dramatic science fiction tale of aliens invading England. The story is narrated in the first person by two brothers as the aliens criss-cross the country in their three-legged machines, destroying everything in their path with heat rays and poison gases. Panic rules as people flee from London, but when all seems lost, an unusual ally comes to mankind’s aid. This brilliant combination of science fiction and Gothic horror has inspired countless films, radio dramas, and television series.

The War of the Worlds is a science fiction novel by English author H. G. Wells. It was written between 1895 and 1897. The invasion of an alien race that is in a great scientific and logical advance comparing to people of Earth is described in the novel. The aliens are inhumanly cruel. It seems the destruction of the whole Earth civilisation is inevitable. Dark and horrible pictures of destroyed London and other cities of Great Britain are depicted so realistically that it frightens the imagination. Is the mankind doomed?

Read by Richard Armitage (The Hobbit, Missing You) The Man From St Petersburg is a dark tale of family secrets and political consequences. Ken Follett's masterful storytelling brings to life the danger of a world on the brink of war. A Secret Negotiation 1914. Tensions are rising as Europe finds...

Jeff Shaara has enthralled readers with his New York Times bestselling novels set during the Civil War and the American Revolution. Now the acclaimed author turns to World War I, bringing to life the sweeping, emotional story of the war that devastated a generation and established America as a...

Brought to you by Penguin. 1926, and in a country still recovering from the Great War, London has become the focus for a delirious new nightlife. In the clubs of Soho, peers of the realm rub shoulders with starlets, foreign dignitaries with gangsters, and girls sell dances for a shilling a time...

BRITAIN AND GERMANY ARE AT WAR AND SEXTON BLAKE IS IN THE THICK OF IT As the battle for the Western Front rages, adventuring detective Sexton Blake pits his intellect and physical prowess against the machinations of the Kaiser. A band of intrepid allies join Blake to take on the forces of evil...

The instant Sunday Times besteller 'The work of a writer who has once again demonstrated complete command of his craft' - The Irish Times 'Short stories to astonish and delight' Financial Times 'Tales of quiet power' The Guardian In The News from Dublin, a beautiful collection of short stories...

Brought to you by Penguin. FROM THE SUNDAY TIMES NUMBER ONE BESTSELLING AUTHOR Summer 1914. A world on the brink of catastrophe. In London, 26-year-old Venetia Stanley – aristocratic, clever, bored, reckless – is having a love affair with the Prime Minister, H. H. Asquith, a man more than...

Nineteen gut-wrenching reports from the front lines of the War of the Worlds, as logged by Albert Einstein, Mark Twain, Theodore Roosevelt, H.P. Lovecraft, Winston Churchill, Jules Verne, and many of the other most famous writers of the time. The most popular and acclaimed science fiction writers of today relive the Martian invasion through the eyes of their famous predecessors.

A metallic cylinder falls to earth, landing in the sands of Horsell Common, Surrey, generating curiosity and awe. But what's inside soon induces only terror. The story that unfolds is a breathless first-person account of an inconceivable reality: an extraterrestrial war has been waged on the planet.

An inspiring and uplifting tale of the strength of women during war, for fans of Nancy Revell and Vicki Beeby. By the author of Lily's War, Bobby's War and Hannah's War. The Isle of Man, 1942 Manx born and bred, Bridget Quayle loves the island and knows every inch of it like the back of her hand...