The Outline of History
Encyclopedia
The Outline of History, subtitled either "The Whole Story of Man" or "Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind", is a book by H. G. Wells
H. G. Wells
Herbert George Wells was an English author, now best known for his work in the science fiction genre. He was also a prolific writer in many other genres, including contemporary novels, history, politics and social commentary, even writing text books and rules for war games...

 published in 1919. Wells was very dissatisfied with the quality of history textbook
Textbook
A textbook or coursebook is a manual of instruction in any branch of study. Textbooks are produced according to the demands of educational institutions...

s at the end of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, and so, between 1918 and 1919, produced a 1,324-page work which was published in serial softcover form in 1919, with the first hardcover edition appearing in 1920. The book met with popular acclaim and massive sales. Nevertheless, its popularity and literary achievements were overshadowed by Wells's works of science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...

, such as The Invisible Man
The Invisible Man
The Invisible Man is a science fiction novella by H.G. Wells published in 1897. Wells' novel was originally serialised in Pearson's Weekly in 1897, and published as a novel the same year...

, The Time Machine
The Time Machine
The Time Machine is a science fiction novella by H. G. Wells, published in 1895 for the first time and later adapted into at least two feature films of the same name, as well as two television versions, and a large number of comic book adaptations. It indirectly inspired many more works of fiction...

, The Island of Dr. Moreau, and his most popular work, The War of the Worlds. Because of this, Wells is now widely known not as a non-fiction writer or a historian, but as a novelist.

Revised editions

Several revised versions were produced during Wells's lifetime, and the author kept notes on factual corrections he received from educators around the world. The last revision in his lifetime was published in 1939. In 1949, an expanded version was produced by author and scholar Raymond Postgate
Raymond Postgate
Raymond William Postgate was an English socialist, journalist and editor, social historian, mystery novelist and gourmet.-Early life:...

, whose additional material initially expanded the timeline through World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, with subsequent additions through 1969. Postgate wrote that "readers wish to hear the views of Wells, not those of Postgate", and endeavored to preserve the original authorial voice throughout his revisions. In later editions, G. P. Wells
G. P. Wells
George Philip Wells FRS , son of the British science fiction author H. G. Wells, was a zoologist and author. He co-authored, with his father and Julian Huxley, The Science of Life. A pupil at Oundle School, he was in the first class to learn Russian as a modern language in a British school...

, the author's son, updated the early chapters about prehistory
Prehistory
Prehistory is the span of time before recorded history. Prehistory can refer to the period of human existence before the availability of those written records with which recorded history begins. More broadly, it refers to all the time preceding human existence and the invention of writing...

 to reflect current theories; previous editions, for instance, gave credence to the Piltdown Man
Piltdown Man
The Piltdown Man was a hoax in which bone fragments were presented as the fossilised remains of a previously unknown early human. These fragments consisted of parts of a skull and jawbone, said to have been collected in 1912 from a gravel pit at Piltdown, East Sussex, England...

 hoax. The final edition appeared in 1971, but earlier editions are still in print.

Responses, rebuttals and objections

The Outline of History inspired responses from the serious to the parodic.
  • In 1921 Algonquin Round Table
    Algonquin Round Table
    The Algonquin Round Table was a celebrated group of New York City writers, critics, actors and wits. Gathering initially as part of a practical joke, members of "The Vicious Circle", as they dubbed themselves, met for lunch each day at the Algonquin Hotel from 1919 until roughly 1929...

     member Donald Ogden Stewart
    Donald Ogden Stewart
    Donald Ogden Stewart was an American author and screenwriter.-Life:His hometown was Columbus, Ohio. He graduated from Yale University, where he became a brother to the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity , in 1916 and was in the Naval Reserves in World War I.After the war he started to write and found...

     first reached success with his satire, A Parody Outline of History.
  • In 1925 G. K. Chesterton
    G. K. Chesterton
    Gilbert Keith Chesterton, KC*SG was an English writer. His prolific and diverse output included philosophy, ontology, poetry, plays, journalism, public lectures and debates, literary and art criticism, biography, Christian apologetics, and fiction, including fantasy and detective fiction....

     wrote The Everlasting Man
    The Everlasting Man
    The Everlasting Man is a two-part history of mankind, Christ, and Christianity, by G. K. Chesterton. Published in 1925, it is to some extent a deliberate rebuttal of H. G. Wells’ Outline of History, which embraced the evolutionary origins of humanity and denied the divinity of Jesus...

    at least partly in reaction to Wells. It disputes his portrayals of human life and civilization as a seamless development (via evolution) from animal life, of Jesus Christ
    Historical Jesus
    The term historical Jesus refers to scholarly reconstructions of the 1st-century figure Jesus of Nazareth. These reconstructions are based upon historical methods including critical analysis of gospel texts as the primary source for his biography, along with consideration of the historical and...

     as merely another charismatic leader, and of the Christian Church
    Christianity
    Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...

     as one more religious movement like any other.
  • In 1926 Hilaire Belloc
    Hilaire Belloc
    Joseph Hilaire Pierre René Belloc was an Anglo-French writer and historian who became a naturalised British subject in 1902. He was one of the most prolific writers in England during the early twentieth century. He was known as a writer, orator, poet, satirist, man of letters and political activist...

     wrote "A Companion to Mr. Wells’s "Outline of History," a devout Roman Catholic, Belloc was deeply offended by Wells’ treatment of Christianity in The Outline. Wells wrote a short book as a rebuttal called Mr. Belloc Objects to “The Outline of History.” In 1926, Belloc published his reply, Mr. Belloc Still Objects.

Allegations of plagiarism

In 1927 a Canadian citizen, Florence Deeks, sued Wells for infringement of copyright
Copyright infringement
Copyright infringement is the unauthorized or prohibited use of works under copyright, infringing the copyright holder's exclusive rights, such as the right to reproduce or perform the copyrighted work, or to make derivative works.- "Piracy" :...

, claiming that much of the Outline was lifted from her unpublished manuscript, "The Web of the World's Romance", which spent over a year in the hands of Wells's North American publisher, Macmillan & Company
Macmillan Publishers
Macmillan Publishers Ltd, also known as The Macmillan Group, is a privately held international publishing company owned by Georg von Holtzbrinck Publishing Group. It has offices in 41 countries worldwide and operates in more than thirty others.-History:...

. While her claim was met with ridicule from the bench and was dismissed, many errors and omissions were shared by both manuscripts. Carleton University
Carleton University
Carleton University is a comprehensive university located in the capital of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario. The enabling legislation is The Carleton University Act, 1952, S.O. 1952. Founded as a small college in 1942, Carleton now offers over 65 programs in a diverse range of disciplines. Carleton has...

 professor A. B. McKillop
A. B. McKillop
A.B. McKillop is currently Chancellor's Professor and former Chair of the history department of Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada....

 published an argument for Deeks' case in 2001. For his part, Wells had said the Outline was the culmination of notes and historical outlines he created in the course of writing previous works, and credited the assistance of numerous historians in preparing his manuscript.

In popular culture

  • In John Huston
    John Huston
    John Marcellus Huston was an American film director, screenwriter and actor. He wrote most of the 37 feature films he directed, many of which are today considered classics: The Maltese Falcon , The Treasure of the Sierra Madre , Key Largo , The Asphalt Jungle , The African Queen , Moulin Rouge...

    's 1941 film The Maltese Falcon
    The Maltese Falcon (1941 film)
    The Maltese Falcon is a 1941 Warner Bros. film based on the novel of the same name by Dashiell Hammett and a remake of the 1931 film of the same name...

    Kasper Gutman played by Sydney Greenstreet
    Sydney Greenstreet
    Sydney Hughes Greenstreet was an English actor. He is best known for his Warner Bros. films with Humphrey Bogart and Peter Lorre, which include The Maltese Falcon and Casablanca .-Biography:...

     says "These are facts, historical facts, not schoolbook history, not Mr. Wells' history, but history nevertheless."
  • In Fredric Brown
    Fredric Brown
    Fredric Brown was an American science fiction and mystery writer. He was born in Cincinnati.He had two sons: James Ross Brown and Linn Lewis Brown ....

    's 1949 science-fiction novel What Mad Universe
    What Mad Universe
    What Mad Universe is a science-fiction novel, written in 1949 by the American author, Fredric Brown.-Synopsis:Keith Winton is a journalist for a science-fiction review. With his glamorous co-worker girlfriend, Betty, he visits his friends one day in their elegant estate in the Catskills,...

    , the protagonist finds himself transported to an alternate universe. Finding a copy of Wells's Outline of History, it turns out to be identical to the one he knows until 1903, at which point the alternate Wells records the invention of anti-gravity
    Anti-gravity
    Anti-gravity is the idea of creating a place or object that is free from the force of gravity. It does not refer to the lack of weight under gravity experienced in free fall or orbit, or to balancing the force of gravity with some other force, such as electromagnetism or aerodynamic lift...

    , a fast human expansion into space, a brutal war for the conquest of Mars
    Mars
    Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...

     which Wells strongly denounces, followed by a titanic conflict with Arcturus.

External links

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