Mr. Ledbetter's Vacation

"Mr. Ledbetter's Vacation"
Short story by H. G. Wells
Country	United Kingdom
Genre(s)	Science fiction
Publication

"Mr. Ledbetter's Vacation" (sometimes rendered "Leadbetter") is a short story written by H. G. Wells in 1894. The story deals with the internal human conflict between rationality and the irrational fear of the unknown.

Publication

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"Mr. Ledbetter's Vacation" was published in The Strand Magazine Vol. XVI: July - December 1898 (London: George Newnes Limited, 1898). That volume also contained an article on "The Boyhood of Lewis Carroll," recently deceased'; short stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle; "The Larrakin of Diamond Creek" by A. J. Raffles-author E. W. Hornung and stories/articles by W. W. Jacobs, L. T. Meade and others.^[1]

Plot summary

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"Mr. Leadbetter is in holy orders, and for more years than he cares to remember has led a virtuous, worthwhile and very dull life. After drinking a little more than is good for him whilst on holiday, he rashly decides to commit a crime. It has consequences he could never have imagined - he ends up on the other side of the world."^[2]

Adaptations

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Mr. Leadbetter's Vacation was adapted into a 30-minute BBC radio drama in the mid-1950s by Lance Sieveking. It was subsequently broadcast by NBC as part of their "Showcase" series, on 16 October 1954.^[2]

References

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^ Book Listing at Biblio.com. Accessed March 9, 2008
^ ^a ^b Diversity Website - Lance Sieveking Radio Plays. Accessed March 9, 2008

External links

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The complete short fiction of H. G. Wells at Standard Ebooks

v t e H. G. Wells
Bibliography
Novels	The Time Machine (1895) The Wonderful Visit (1895) The Island of Doctor Moreau (1896) The Wheels of Chance (1896) The Invisible Man (1897) The War of the Worlds (1898) When the Sleeper Wakes (1899) Love and Mr Lewisham (1900) The First Men in the Moon (1901) The Sea Lady (1902) The Food of the Gods and How It Came to Earth (1904) Kipps (1905) A Modern Utopia (1905) In the Days of the Comet (1906) The War in the Air (1908) Tono-Bungay (1909) Ann Veronica (1909) The History of Mr Polly (1910) The Sleeper Awakes (1910) The New Machiavelli (1911) Marriage (1912) The Passionate Friends (1913) The Wife of Sir Isaac Harman (1914) The World Set Free (1914) Bealby (1915) Boon (1915) The Research Magnificent (1915) Mr. Britling Sees It Through (1916) The Soul of a Bishop (1917) Joan and Peter (1918) The Undying Fire (1919) The Secret Places of the Heart (1922) Men Like Gods (1923) The Dream (1924) Christina Alberta's Father (1925) The World of William Clissold (1926) Meanwhile (1927) Mr. Blettsworthy on Rampole Island (1928) The Autocracy of Mr. Parham (1930) The Bulpington of Blup (1932) The Shape of Things to Come (1933) The Croquet Player (1936) Brynhild (1937) Star Begotten (1937) The Camford Visitation (1937) Apropos of Dolores (1938) The Brothers (1938) The Holy Terror (1939) Babes in the Darkling Wood (1940) All Aboard for Ararat (1940) You Can't Be Too Careful (1941)
Nonfiction	Anticipations Certain Personal Matters Crux Ansata The Discovery of the Future An Englishman Looks at the World Experiment in Autobiography The Fate of Man First and Last Things Floor Games The Future in America God the Invisible King In the Fourth Year Little Wars Mankind in the Making Mind at the End of Its Tether Mr. Belloc Objects to "The Outline of History" The New America The New World Order New Worlds for Old The Open Conspiracy The Outline of History Russia in the Shadows The Science of Life A Short History of the World The Story of a Great Schoolmaster This Misery of Boots Travels of a Republican Radical in Search of Hot Water War and the Future The Way the World Is Going The Work, Wealth and Happiness of Mankind World Brain A Year of Prophesying
Collections	The Country of the Blind and Other Stories The Plattner Story and Others Select Conversations with an Uncle The Stolen Bacillus and Other Incidents Tales of Space and Time Twelve Stories and a Dream
Short stories	"Æpyornis Island" "The Argonauts of the Air" "The Beautiful Suit" "The Chronic Argonauts" "The Cone" "The Country of the Blind" "The Crystal Egg" "A Deal in Ostriches" "The Diamond Maker" "The Door in the Wall" "A Dream of Armageddon" "The Empire of the Ants" "In the Abyss" "The Land Ironclads" "Mr. Ledbetter's Vacation" "The Lord of the Dynamos" "The Man Who Could Work Miracles" "The New Accelerator" "The Pearl of Love" "The Plattner Story" "The Queer Story of Brownlow's Newspaper" "The Red Room" "The Sea Raiders" "The Star" "The Stolen Body" "A Story of the Days to Come" "A Story of the Stone Age" "Triumphs of a Taxidermist" "The Truth About Pyecraft" "A Vision of Judgment"
Screenplays	Things to Come (1936) The Man Who Could Work Miracles (1937)
Related	Political views G. P. Wells Anthony West (son) Joseph Wells (father) Simon Wells (great-grandson) H. G. Wells Society Lunar crater Time After Time (1979 film)

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