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. WellsHerbert George Wells was an English author, best known for his work in the science fiction genre. He was also a prolific writer in many genres, including contemporary novels, history, and social commentary....
published in 1919. Wells was very dissatisfied with the quality of history
textbookA textbook is a manual of instruction or a standard book in any branch of study. They are produced according to the demand of educational institutions...
s at the end of
World War IWorld War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
, 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 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. WellsHerbert George Wells was an English author, best known for his work in the science fiction genre. He was also a prolific writer in many genres, including contemporary novels, history, and social commentary....
published in 1919. Wells was very dissatisfied with the quality of history
textbookA textbook is a manual of instruction or a standard book in any branch of study. They are produced according to the demand of educational institutions...
s at the end of
World War IWorld War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
, 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 fictionScience fiction is a genre of fiction. It differs from fantasy in that, within the context of the story, its imaginary elements are largely possible within scientifically-established or scientifically-postulated laws of nature...
, such as
The Invisible ManThe Invisible Man is a science fiction novella by H.G. Wells published in 1897. Wells' novel was originally serialised in Pearson's Magazine in 1897, and published as a novel the same year...
,
The Time MachineThe Time Machine is a novella by H. G. Wells, first published in 1895 and later directly 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 in all media...
,
The Island of Dr. Moreau, and his most popular work,
The War of the Worlds. Because of this, Wells is now 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 PostgateRaymond William Postgate was a British socialist journalist and editor, social historian, mystery novelist and gourmet.-Early life:...
, whose additional material initially expanded the timeline through
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into 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. WellsGeorge 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
prehistoryPrehistory is a term used to describe the period before recorded history. Paul Tournal originally coined the term Pré-historique in describing the finds he had made in the caves of southern France...
to reflect current theories; previous editions, for instance, gave credence to the
Piltdown ManThe "Piltdown Man" is a famous paleontological hoax concerning the finding of the remains of a previously unknown early human. The hoax find consisted of fragments of a skull and jawbone collected in 1912 from a gravel pit at Piltdown, a village near Uckfield, East Sussex, England...
hoax. The final edition appeared in 1971, but earlier editions are still in print.
The Outline of History inspired responses from the serious to the parodic.
Algonquin Round TableThe 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 StewartDonald 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.
G. K. ChestertonGilbert Keith Chesterton was one of the most influential English writers of the 20th century. His prolific and diverse output included journalism, philosophy, poetry, biography, Christian apologetics, fantasy and detective fiction....
wrote
The Everlasting ManThe 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 conscious 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 ChristThe historical Jesus is the figure of the first-century Jesus of Nazareth as reconstructed by scholars using historical methods that include critical analysis of gospel texts as the primary source for his biography, and non-biblical sources for the historical and cultural context in which he lived...
as merely another charismatic leader, and of the
Christian ChurchChristianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented by the revelations in the New Testament....
as one more religious movement like any other.
In
Fredric BrownFredric Brown was an American science fiction and mystery writer.He had two sons: James Ross Brown and Linn Lewis Brown .-Writing career:...
's 1949 science-fiction novel "
What Mad UniverseWhat 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-gravityIn physical cosmology, astronomy and celestial mechanics, 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 experienced in free fall or orbit, nor to balancing the force of gravity with some other force, such as...
, a fast human expansion into space, a brutal war for the conquest of
MarsMars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after Mars, the Roman god of war. It is also referred to as the "Red Planet" because of its reddish appearance, due to iron oxide prevalent on its surface....
which Wells strongly denounces, followed by a titanic conflict with
Arcturus|- bgcolor="#FFFAFA"| note : || H and K emission vary.Arcturus is the brightest star in the constellation Boötes. With a visual magnitude of −0.05, it is also the third brightest star in the night sky, after Sirius and Canopus...
.
Allegations of plagiarism
In 1927 a Canadian citizen, Florence Deeks, sued Wells for
plagiarismPlagiarism, as defined in the 1995 Random House Compact Unabridged Dictionary, is the "use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one's own original work." Within academia, plagiarism by students, professors, or researchers is considered...
, 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 & CompanyMacmillan 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....
. While her claim was met with ridicule from the bench and was dismissed, many errors and omissions were shared by both manuscripts.
Carleton UniversityCarleton University is an international, comprehensive university located in Canada's capital of Ottawa, Ontario. Founded as a small college in 1942, Carleton now offers over 65 programs in a diverse range of disciplines, including public affairs, journalism, film studies, engineering, high...
professor
A. B. McKillopA.B. McKillop is currently Chancellor's Professor and 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.
External links