25 Vintage, International Book Covers for H. G. Wells’ ‘The War of the Worlds’

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Happy birthday to English author H. G. Wells, one of the fathers of science fiction. His 1898 novel The War of the Worlds, about a devastating alien invasion on Earth, has been published continuously for over 100 years. Orson Welles resurrected the frightening story for his 1938 radio broadcast, narrated by the director as a news bulletin, which led to widespread panic as listeners thought the Martian invasion was real. The War of the Worlds has been adapted dozens of times, most popularly by Steven Spielberg in a 2005 film starring Tom Cruise. But the book itself lives on in the imaginations of readers everywhere. After spotting a stunning collection of War of the Worlds book covers, we selected several vintage covers that span the globe. These images represent the influence of Wells’ story throughout the decades and demonstrate how different countries absorbed the intense, interplanetary tale into the collective consciousness.

1938, the same year Orson Welles frightened the nation with his radio broadcast adaptation.

1951

1913

1917, French

1960, cover by Edward Gorey

1899, Dutch

1963, Penguin Books

1964

1973, French

1978, Golden Press

1983, introduction by Isaac Asimov

1984, Russian

1924, Lithuanian

1939, Dutch

1930, Swedish

1953, Italian

1990, Korean

1978, Bulgarian

1963, Danish

1974, German

1979, Spanish

1934, Irish

1963, Romanian

1969

1983, Turkish