The Author Herbert George Wells Herbert George Wells (1866-1946) was born in Bromley, a town in South East London. He had a difficult early life. In 1874, he had a very bad accident, so he had to stay in bed for a long time. He started to read a lot of books from the local library. At the end of this period, he decided to become a writer. After two unhappy years working in a shop, Wells became a student assistant at Midhurst Grammar School. From here, in 1884, he won a scholarship1 to the Normal School of Science, London. After this, he started the life of a school teacher again. In 1890, he took a degree2 in zoology and wrote biology and geography textbooks. In 1891, he got married to his cousin Isabel but his life was unhappy. His second wife was Amy Robbins, married in 1895; he lived the rest of his life with her. He was a member of the Fabian Society3 and very interested in the political problems of his time. He was a brilliant writer and wrote about fifty novels4 that can be divided into three groups. 1. scholarship: a sum of money given by a school, college, university, or other organization to pay for the studies of a person with great ability but little money. 2. degree: the qualification given to a student who has done a course of study at a college or university. 3. Fabian Society: a British socialist organisation whose purpose is to advance the principles of democratic socialism. As founder of the Labour Party in 1900, it has influenced British policy to the present day. 4. novel: a long story about imaginary characters and events. 4