The War in the Air
| The War in the Air | |
|---|---|
 1st US edition (Macmillan) |
|
| Author(s) | H. G. Wells |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Science fiction novel |
| Publisher | George Bell and Sons |
| Publication date | 1908[1] |
| Media type | Print (Serial, Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 389 |
| ISBN | NA |
| Preceded by | In the Days of the Comet |
| Followed by | Tono-Bungay |
The War in the Air is a novel by H. G. Wells, written in 1907, serialized and published in 1908 in The Pall Mall Magazine. Like many of Wells’s works, it is notable for its prophetic ideas, images, and concepts, in this case, the use of the aircraft for the purpose of warfare and the coming of World War I. The novel's hero is Bert Smallways, a forward-thinking young man, a "kind of bicycle engineer of the let's-have-a-look-at-it and enamel chipping variety."
Contents |
[edit] Plot summary
Wells envisages a world in which China and Japan form a "Confederation of Eastern Asia"; Germany is aggressive and thrusting; and the United States is a country torn apart "in violent conflict between Federal and State governments upon the question of universal service in a defensive militia." The British Empire is a more pacific power, whose possessions are scattered across the globe, and distracted by "insurrectionary movements in Ireland and among all its Subject Races. It had given these subject races cigarettes, boots, bowler hats, cricket, race meetings, cheap revolvers, petroleum, the factory system of industry, half penny newspapers in both English and the vernacular, inexpensive university degrees, motor-bicycles and electric trams…" France and the Latin Powers (Italy, Spain, Portugal) are militarized, but reluctant to fight; Russia is divided within itself, torn apart by conflict between revolutionaries and reactionaries. Other smaller states have armed themselves as best they can.
War erupts when German aerial forces, built and supported by aeronautical parks and foundries, and consisting of airships and Drachenflieger, attempt to seize control of the air before the Americans build a large-scale aerial navy. The Germans assume that the Chinese and Japanese have no air forces. Tensions between Japan and the United States, exacerbated by the issue of American citizenship being denied to Japanese immigrants, also lead to war. The "Confederation of Eastern Asia" (China and Japan) turns out to possess aerial forces, and their aircraft and tactics have been seen as a portent to the kamikaze of World War II. The United States therefore has to fight on two fronts: the Eastern and the Western, in the air as well on sea.
Bert Smallways becomes entangled in the German plot to bomb New York City when he accidentally falls into the hydrogen balloon of Alfred Butteridge, a British aviator who is apparently the only man with the "secret of the flying machine". (Aircraft development has been mainly limited to airships and what appear to be single-use semi-gliders that have to be launched from an airship (the Drachenflieger); it has not succeeded in producing a really practical heavier-than-air machine, only a few awkward devices of limited utility. Butteridge's invention is a major breakthrough in heavier-than-air flight, being highly manoeuvrable, capable of both very fast and very slow flight, and requiring only a small area to take off and land; it appears to combine the advantages of the helicopter and the aeroplane in a manner superior to modern real-world V/STOL craft. As such it would confer a significant military advantage to any nation that would put it into production.) The hot air balloon is whisked off and lands in the German aeronautic foundries in Franconia. Mistaken by the Germans for Alfred Butteridge, he is taken on board and questioned by the German ambassador Von Winterfeld. He also comes into the presence of Prince Karl Albert, the German commander of the plot. However, his disguise is foiled, and he becomes stuck on board the Vaterland, the German flagship. After witnessing the Battle of the North Atlantic and the bombing of New York, as well as an aerial battle between German and American forces, Bert Smallways realizes the true horror of war.
After New York City is bombarded by the German flying machines, the Asiatic aerial forces fly over the Rocky Mountains, and engage the Germans in dog fights above Niagara Falls. The Asiatic air fleet is equipped with large numbers of lightweight one-man flying machines called Niais, which appear to be ornithopters, armed with a gun carried by the pilot firing explosive bullets "loaded with oxygen" for use against the hydrogen-filled airships. Smallways, stranded on Goat Island in the middle of Niagara Falls, finds a crashed Niais and manages to escape from the island on it, crashlanding near Tanooda, NY. He learns that the Asiatic forces have landed "a million men" on the western seaboard, and turns the plans for Butteridge's flying machine over to the US president, who is hiding out in Pinkerville "on the Hudson".
The Asiatic fleet also attacks a combined Anglo-Indian aerial force, capturing the Burmese airfields, and in Australia as well, capturing the Pacific islands. In Europe, the United Kingdom, France and Italy fight the German and Swiss forces, leading to the destruction of London, Paris, Hamburg and Berlin. A global financial collapse is caused by hostile nations freezing assets, and the end of the credit system. This is referred to as "the Panic" by Smallways later on. "The Panic" is followed by "The Plague" (reportedly, according to Smallways, from "...some high place or other, Thibet, I think..."), which, combined with the world war, the effects of the Panic, and "a Moslem insurrection from Gobi to Morocco...the jehad", results in the total collapse of organised society. In Asia "the black flag was raised at Yokohama", indicating an anarchist takeover. Bert Smallways, wanting to return home, catches a ride on a boat, although an outbreak of "The Plague" and an "Arab ruse" at Tenerife nearly see him killed before returning to his now desolate home. The story advances three decades into the future to find humanity resembling barbarians, maintaining a brutal feudal society after the war's destruction, although there are mentions of military bases in the north, where a determined few are keeping the war alive.
[edit] Influences
- Michael Moorcock's Oswald Bastable books, The Warlord of the Air, The Land Leviathan, and The Steel Tsar are set in alternate early 20th centuries where vast wars have occurred bearing some resemblance to that described in The War in the Air.
- The War in the Air is part of the historical backdrop of Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill's series The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, as described in The New Traveller's Almanac.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Online Searchable Full Text
- The War in the Air at Project Gutenberg
- Printed and bound format
The War in the Air public domain audiobook from LibriVox
