The War of the Worlds is set in the late 1890s in England. For Wells and his original audience, this was a modern setting, and the British weapons he describes were the very latest products of high technology. Although the ironclad warships and batteries of cannons may seem old-fashioned to present-day readers, one should keep in mind that these weapons were once symbols of terrible destruction. That the Martian war-machines crush the well-armed and mighty British army confirms the Martians as technologically superior enemies of humanity. After the British artillery batteries are destroyed, no one doubts the Martians' ability to exterminate humanity.

All the locales in The War of the Worlds are real places in England—places where Wells lived or often visited.

Readers familiar with England would have readily recognized the place names and the descriptions of the countryside.

Thus Wells brings home the effects of...