GANGNES: red or red-brown

GANGNES: The 1898 version adds the following small paragraph between these two sentences (see text comparison page):

"Slowly I thrust myself out through the red weed, and stood upon the mound of rubble. I could see in any direction save behind me, to the north, and neither Martians nor sign of Martians were to be seen. The pit dropped sheerly from my feet, but a little way along the rubbish afforded a practicable slope to the summit of the ruins. My chance of escape had come. I began to tremble."

GANGNES: There is no paragraph here in the 1898 volume; it was moved to after "...gently swaying" (with a new sentence to end it: "And oh! the sweetness of the air!") and renamed, "The Work of Fifteen Days." See text comparison page.

GANGNES: There are no Earth plants around to compete with the Red Weed for space; the red Martian plants are taking over Earth's green vegetation.

GANGNES: This paragraph is revised and expanded into a lengthy passage wherein the narrator grapples with the changes in the countryside around him after finally escaping from the ruined house. He is reckless and dazed for a few moments before he gets a hold of himself again and begins to search for food. See text comparison page.

GANGNES: In this case, vulnerability or lack of safety.

GANGNES: Gladiolus are flowering plants, not vegetables. The flowers and greens are edible to humans, but eating the bulbs is not advised.

More information:

• Edible Flowers: Part Two on Eat the Weeds

From DANAHAY 161: fertility

From MCCONNELL 265: "Rotting from within. This is an instance of 'foreshadowing' in the classic tradition of the Victorian novel. The death of the red Martian weed is our first hint that the invasion of the Martians themselves may be doomed to failure through the same 'natural' processes."

GANGNES: This line was cut from the 1898 volume. It is the kind of text marker designed to keep serial audiences engaged in the narrative and clamoring to buy the next installment, but in a volume it may come off as unnecessary foreshadowing that distracts from the flow of the narrative. Wells has substituted another form of foreshadowing that is simultaneously subtler and more detailed. The following sentence was added just before this point (between "upon it." and "The fronds"): "Now by the action of natural selection, all terrestrial plants have acquired a resisting power against bacterial diseases—they never succumb without a severe struggle, but the red weed rotted like a thing already dead." See text comparison page.

From DANAHAY 161: "quench, to drink until no longer thirsty"

From HUGHES AND GEDULD 233: "a suburb of London, about five miles southwest of the city center"

GANGNES: The 1898 volume adds a few sentences here wherein the narrator again comments on the landscape through which he is traveling alone (see text comparison page):

"Here the scenery changed from the strange and unfamiliar to the wreckage of the familiar: patches of ground exhibited the devastation of a cyclone, and in a few score yards I would come upon perfectly undisturbed spaces, houses with their blinds trimly drawn and doors closed, as if they had been left for a day by the owners, or as if their inhabitants slept within. The red weed was less abundant; the tall trees along the lane were free from the red creeper."

The addition enhances the desolate mood of the narrator's journey and contributes to the visual writing style for which Wells is so often lauded.

GANGNES: Presumably the narrator is hoping to eat one of the dogs, as he planned to with the dog that came near the ruined house.

GANGNES: It is not clear whether the Martians ate these animals, humans ate them, or other animals ate them. The text suggests that the Martians prefer to eat human beings.

GANGNES: Which is to say, like a chimney sweep covered in coal dust from cleaning a chimney.

From HUGHES AND GEDULD 229: "a district of West London, located just north of the Thames and south of Hammersmith, about four miles from the city center"

From HUGHES AND GEDULD 234: "an area of Fulham, just north of the river Thames, about three miles southwest of central London"

From MCCONNELL 283: "the area [of London] north of the Thames, from the Tower of London on the East to St. Paul's Cathedral on the west, enclosed within the original walls of London"

From HUGHES AND GEDULD 223 and 228: "On Sundays stores and businesses in the City of London are closed, and as the area is largely nonresidential, few people are to be seen." The City is "London's commercial and financial center, north of the Thames between the Temple (on the west) and Aldgate Pump (on the east). The Bank of England and the Royal Exchange are situated in The City."

From DANAHAY 177: "the central part of London that contains many important financial and governmental buildings that would normally be closed on a Sunday"

GANGNES: The 1898 volume here adds the line "She seemed asleep, but she was dead." This becomes a problem for consistency between the serial and the volume; see HUGHES AND GEDULD note in Installment 9.

GANGNES: Waltham Abbey is ~15 miles north of the London city center. This is where the Royal Gunpowder Mills are located. Gunpowder production began there in the 1660s, and by the nineteenth century the mill was taking advantage of steam power to supply explosives to the British Navy and Army. The destruction of this site, then, is a huge blow to the British defense against the Martians; in trying to destroy one of the fighting machines, the British destroy a valuable supply of explosives for their military.

More information:

• Official Waltham Abbey Gunpowder Mills website
• Rupert Baker, "Explosive tales from Waltham Abbey" on the Royal Society's website
• Article on Essex local history on the BBC's website

This installment comprises the text that is roughly comparable to Book I ("The Coming of the Martians"), part of Chapter XVII and Chapter I of Book II ("London Under the Martians") of the 1898 collected edition and subsequent versions.

This is the cover of the October 1897 issue of Pearson's Magazine:

GANGNES: The battle of the Thunder Child is one of the most action-packed scenes in the novel. It has been a favored scene for many adaptations and illustrations, including the album cover for Jeff Wayne's musical adaptation (see Installment 1 annotations):

More information:

• Website dedicated to Jeff Wayne's musical
• "Thunder Child" recording
• Dr. Zeus's War of the Worlds book cover collection
• Dr. Zeus's War of the Worlds interior illustration collection

GANGNES: From this point to the end of the paragraph was cut for the 1898 edition. As the notes on Installment 6 indicate, a significant portion of the end of Installment 6 was moved to the next chapter, changing the flow and creation of suspense as the narrative moves toward what would become the split between Books I and II. See text comparison page.

GANGNES: The New River is actually an aqueduct created in the 1600s, hence the fact that is a source of drinking water here. See "The New River" on the History of London website.

GANGNES: This is another instance of the unreliability of the press during a time of crisis, especially when the government is in disarray. There is a tension throughout the novel of the citizens' hunger for official news--to the point where they will pay exorbitant prices for a newspaper--and the uselessness of the scraps of information they receive.

From MCCONNELL 225: "the artificially enlarged shipping area of the Thames"

From HUGHES AND GEDULD 232: "Strictly speaking this refers to the stretch of the river Thames between London Bridge (on the west) and Cuckold's Point (on the east), near West India Dock. But more popularly it has come to signify the area of London below (i.e., east of) London Bridge. Fairly large sea-going vessels have access to the port of London up to this part of the Thames."

From MCCONNELL 225: "crewmembers of a lighter, or unpowered barge used to unload cargo ships in harbor"

From HUGHES AND GEDULD 215: "sailors on or owners of lighters or barges (boats used in the 'lightening,' or unloading, of large ships)"

GANGNES: area of London east of Southwark Bridge and Tower Bridge (and the Tower of London), on the north bank of the Thames

From HUGHES AND GEDULD 230: "a tough, working-class district in London's East End. It is north of Commercial Road and East India Dock Road, about five miles east of Charing Cross."

GANGNES: Due to the shifting around of the narrative, this sentence is changed in the 1898 edition to: "Of the falling of the fifth cylinder I have presently to tell. The sixth star fell at Wimbledon." See text comparison page. HUGHES AND GEDULD (215) assert that this is "a slip"; the sixth and seventh cylinders "must fall on Tuesday and Wednesday nights." See below note on "Fifth Cylinder" that complicates matters further.

From HUGHES AND GEDULD 230: Highgate is "a district of north London, on a hill below Hampstead Heath. One of the most picturesque parts of London, it was (in the 1890s) and still is an area of many fine houses."

From HUGHES AND GEDULD 231: Neasden is "a northwest suburb of greater London, about six miles from the city center. It is now heavily residential but it was quite rural in the 1890s."

GANGNES: Highgate is to the north and slightly east of Chalk Farm; Neasden is to the northwest of Chalk Farm.

From HUGHES AND GEDULD 227: "England's second largest city, in northwest Warwick, about 110 miles northwest of London."

From MCCONNELL 226: "'Automatic mines' are mines set to detonate on contact with any moving object; they are so called to distinguish them from mines exploded by electric current from shore. ... The mines are set to block the expected advance of the Martians into the counties (Leicester, Warwick, Nottinghamshire, etc.) in the middle of England."

From HUGHES AND GEDULD 215: "The Midland Railway Company provided public transportation to such Midlands cities as Nottingham, Leicester, Manchester, and Leeds. Its London terminus was St. Pancras Station."

From HUGHES AND GEDULD 232: "an eminence north of Regent's Park, with the London Zoo below. It commands an extensive view of London."

GANGNES: Primrose Hill is just south of Chalk Farm.

From STOVER 169: "A vigilante group whose name echoes that of the Committee of Public Safety formed under Robespierre during the French Revolution."

From HUGHES AND GEDULD 234: "a small town in Essex, about four miles west of the North Sea and sixty-five miles northeast of central London."

GANGNES: Tillingham is north of Foulness and northeast of Southend.

GANGNES: villages on the eastern coast of England; the sailors are traveling from north to south along the coast

From HUGHES AND GEDULD 228: Clacton (officially Clacton-on-Sea) is "a resort town on the North Sea, about eighty miles northeast of London."

From MCCONNELL 227: "a promontory, north of London (in the county of Essex), extending into the North Sea"

From HUGHES AND GEDULD 230: "a promontory on the North Sea coast of Essex, about four miles south of the seaport of Harwich."

From MCCONNELL 232: smacks are "single-masted, light sailing vessels used as tenders for warships"

From MCCONNELL 227: "ships carrying coal"

From HUGHES AND GEDULD 233: "a major seaport in south Hampshire, about seventy miles southwest of London"

GANGNES: port city in Germany

From HUGHES AND GEDULD 227: "a river about forty miles long in the south of England. It flows from Saffron Walden to Mersea Island, where it enters the North Sea."

GANGNES: wide river flowing in from the east coast of England, north of Foulness and Southend; Maldon (below) lies at the western point where it narrows

From MCCONNELL 227: haggling

From MCCONNELL 228: "a warship with a heavy iron beak or prow for penetrating the hull of an enemy"

From MCCONNELL 228: the point at which the river meets the sea's tide

From MCCONNELL 228: seaport in NW Belgium

From MCCONNELL 229: "walls above the main deck to protect the passengers from wind and driving rain"

From MCCONNELL 229: "The River Crouch, south of the Naze, meets the North Sea at Foulness Point."

From HUGHES AND GEDULD 228: "a river in Essex about twenty-four miles long. It flows from Brentwood to Foulness point, where it enters the North Sea."

From MCCONNELL 230: a spray of water

From MCCONNELL 230: "gigantic sea beast of Biblical legend"

GANGNES: See various Biblical references and Wikipedia article on the Leviathan.

From MCCONNELL 231: port/left

GANGNES: Again we see a comparison of Martian technology (especially the Heat Ray) to cameras and photography.

From DANAHAY 134: "Flight was still a dream when Wells wrote this, and so he is vague about how exactly the Martians' flying machines operate."

From HUGHES AND GEDULD 216: echoes several biblical passages: 1) Genesis 19:24 ("Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven"); 2) Exodus 10:22 ("And the Lord said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt."); 3) Matthew 27:45 ("Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour.").

GANGNES: In the 1898 edition, this is the point where the novel is split into two books. Book II is called "Earth Under the Martians," and this chapter becomes Chapter I of Book II: "Under Foot."

GANGNES: In the 1898 edition, nearly the entirety of the text from this point through "...heels of fact" (the beginning of page 454) is cut and replaced by a new paragraph and a half. See text comparison page.

GANGNES: This section is part of a major cut to the chapter that occurred when the novel was split into two parts (as discussed above). In the serialized version of the text, the novel's narrator spends much more time reflecting on his own feelings and responses, as well as the storytelling process, than in the volume. Here Wells makes explicitly clear the narrator's unreliability (which is implicit in other parts of the text). Moreover, there is a strange critique of "romanticized" fiction that sets fiction up against this narrator's journalistic account of the invasion (which, of course, is fiction as well). The narrator's appeals to authority here may come off as prematurely defensive and disruptive of the narrative flow. It seems that Wells ultimately decided they would not be a strong start to Book II of the volume. See text comparison page.

GANGNES: Cut in the 1898 version and replaced by a longer section. See text comparison page.

GANGNES: This section was significantly revised for the 1898 version. Most notably, in the Pearson's version Twickenham is deserted, whereas in the 1898 version the narrator and curate cross paths with several other people who are fleeing, and there is more damage in the town. This creates quite a different effect: the serial evokes the haunting quality of a ghost town; the volume expresses an environment of urgency and destruction. See text comparison page.

From HUGHES AND GEDULD 227: "a district of greater London south of the Thames, between Putney (on the east) and Mortlake (on the west), and about six miles west-southwest of central London"

From HUGHES AND GEDULD 233: "a district of greater London south of the Thames, between Richmond (on the west) and Roehampton (on the east), about eight miles west of central London"

GANGNES: east of Twickenham, north of Richmond, west of Barnes, and south of Chiswick; essentially the same area as Mortlake

GANGNES: area of London on the south bank of the Thames, east of Twickenham, north of Richmond, and south of Chiswick; essentially the same area as Sheen

GANGNES: explosion

GANGNES: unconscious

GANGNES: See notes below from MCCONNELL and HUGHES AND GEDULD about a possible inconsistency or oversight in the order of the cylinder landings. This makes mapping them even more complicated.

From MCCONNELL 240: "Popular newspapers frequently issued these supplements, cheap and crude reproductions, 'suitable for framing,' of famous works of art or stirring historical scenes; they decorated the homes of many lower middle class families."

From MCCONNELL 241: "room in which food is cleaned or cut before being taken to the kitchen for cooking; hence the most malodorous and usually the dirtiest room of the house"

From MCCONNELL 207: "A tall, dense, puffy cloud. Many readers during the First World War viewed this as a forecast of the use of poison gas."

From MCCONNELL 207: carbon dioxide

From STOVER 149: carbon dioxide is heavier than air; it is emitted from erupting volcanoes into the low-lying areas around them

GANGNES: The 1898 volume adds this sentence: "Save that an unknown element giving a group of four lines in the blue of the spectrum is concerned, we are all still entirely ignorant of the nature of this substance." See text comparison page. HUGHES AND GEDULD (214) note that the addition creates an inconsistency; the epilogue describes "three lines in the green."

GANGNES: Should be "Street Cobham." This is an error that was likely made in the typesetting process for Pearson's, as it does not appear in other versions. The mix-up is understandable, especially as the narrator has spoken so often of Chobham and Chobham Road.

HUGHES AND GEDULD (119) point out that Street Chobham (with an H) is "well west of the Martians' line of march."

GANGNES: village on the north bank of the Thames, slightly northwest of Ditton between Walton and Kingston

From DANAHAY 113: large park; part of Greater London

GANGNES: now spelled "Bushy Park"; in Hampton

From DANAHAY 113: a heavy artillery fire

GANGNES: Smoke suffocates wasps; this practice is still done today, often with smoke-like products that can be purchased for this purpose.

From MCCONNELL 210: "The first British destroyer, the Havoc, was commissioned in 1893. The development of steam power in the second half of the century had revolutionized the concept of naval warfare, and put in jeopardy Britain's traditional bulwark of defense, the Royal Navy. In the growing war-fever at the end of the century, much concern was generated around what seemed to be the increased power of European navies, especially the French, and the Naval Defense Act of 1889 laid down rules for the refurbishing of the Navy similar to those which had earlier attempted to reinvigorate the Army."

From DANAHAY 114: rapid-fire artillery (like minute-guns)

From HUGHES AND GEDULD 230: "a metropolitan borough of London, on the south bank of the Thames. Waterloo Station, key exit point for southwest England, is located in this borough."

GANGNES: Cut from the 1898 volume; perhaps it was thought to be redundant. See text comparison page.

GANGNES: a village about 12 miles to the north of central London; Londoners are fleeing north from the Martians

GANGNES: which is to say, cause the engine driver harm or even death by pushing him into the coal furnace that fuels the steam for the engine

From DANAHAY 116: "sack"=looting

GANGNES: The narrator's brother is one of the first to arrive during the process of looting a bicycle shop, which allows him to steal a bicycle before they are all taken.

GANGNES: the northbound road through Chalk Farm

GANGNES: road to the west from Chalk Farm; the narrator's brother decides to travel west instead of north because the Haverstock Hill road is blocked

GANGNES: The text was significantly revised for the 1898 volume from this point through "...in time to save them"; Wells seems to have spent a great deal of effort grappling with how to describe the havoc and conflict of the flight from London. See text comparison page.

From HUGHES AND GEDULD 229: "a suburban area of greater London, in Middlesex, about seven miles northwest of the city center."

GANGNES: north of Chalk Farm (on the narrator's brother's path)

From STOVER 154-5: London's first motor exhibition was in 1895; legislation kept motorcars' speed slower than horses (and horse-drawn carts/carriages) and bicycles. In 1903 the maximum speed for motorcars was raised from two miles per hour to twenty.

From MCCONNELL 212: a one-horse, two-wheeled cab for two passengers with the driver seated above and behind the cab

From DANAHAY 116: "these were frequently for hire on the streets of London like taxis"

From HUGHES AND GEDULD 233: "a town in south-central Hertford, about twenty miles north-northwest of central London"

GANGNES: about 11-12 miles north of Edgware (relevant to narrator's brother's journey)

From HUGHES AND GEDULD 228: "a small town in central Essex, about twenty-five miles east-northeast of London"

GANGNES: about 38 miles east of Edgware (on narrator's brother's journey)

DANAHAY 117: small carriage light enough for one pony to pull

From DANAHAY 117: related to boxing

GANGNES: Corrected to "companion" in 1898 volume. See text comparison page.

From DANAHAY 118: unconscious

GANGNES: Cut from the 1898 volume. See text comparison page.

From HUGHES AND GEDULD 233: "a small town in Middlesex, about nine miles northwest of the city center. It is now part of greater London but was a rural area in the 1890s."

GANGNES: about 3 miles west of Edgware

GANGNES: village about 3.5 miles west of Stanmore

GANGNES: village about 5 miles northeast of Edgware

GANGNES: This text was cut, with the rest of the last sentence, from the 1898 volume, and replaced with a few new sentences that streamline the scene. See text comparison page.

From MCCONNELL 215: one pound = five dollars

GANGNES: The next two paragraphs are cut from the 1898 volume, with smaller sentences and fragments added and cut through the end of page 355. Again Wells takes great care over the flow of this scene. See text comparison page.

From STOVER 158: This heroic character is likely named after Montstuart Elphinstone (died 1859), who explored the dangerous wilds of Afghanistan on behalf of the British Raj. Wells's readers would have been familiar with his feats.

GANGNES: a road that runs directly north from Barnet Road, leading out of Barnet and far to the north

From MCCONNELL 216: "The East End of London, until well into the 1930s, was a notorious working-class slum."

From DANAHAY 120: a grating/grinding sound

GANGNES: In the 1898 volume, this section is moved down and inserted before "But varied as its composition was..." See text comparison page.

From DANAHAY 122: a bit is a piece of metal that fits in a horse's mouth and forms part of the reins

From DANAHAY 122: large cart breweries used to deliver beer

From DANAHAY 122: "The Italian scientist Luigi Galvani (1737-98) passed electricity through dead animal tissue to make it move; this kind of involuntary movement became known as galvanism."

GANGNES: Cut from the 1898 volume. See text comparison page.

From MCCONNELL 220: European evergreen with white flowers

From HUGHES AND GEDULD 215: "Garrick" has not been traced to a real person.

GANGNES: Note that MCCONNELL disagrees with HUGHES AND GEDULD and STOVER here about the importance of this title.

From MCCONNELL 220: "In England, the presiding judge of any court with several members."

From HUGHES AND GEDULD 215: "The nearest American equivalent [of "Chief Justice" here] (although there are many differences in the two offices) would be the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court."

From STOVER: "The Lord Chief Justice of England is equivalent to the Chief Justice of the United States."

From DANAHAY 124: spilled out

From MCCONNELL 220: gold coins worth two pounds, eighteen shillings (each)

From DANAHAY 124: gold coins worth two pounds each ("the man has a lot of heavy money in his bag")

GANGNES: Note that MCCONNELL's and DANAHAY's respective accounts of a sovereign's worth are not the same as one another or as HUGHES AND GEDULD's (and STOVER's) below.

GANGNES: The 1898 volume changes this to "his lower limbs lay limp and dead"; this clarifies why the man is able to grasp for his money even though his back is broken. See text comparison page.

From HUGHES AND GEDULD: "refers to sovereigns: gold coins worth one English pound each."

GANGNES: Note that HUGHES AND GEDULD's account of a sovereign's worth is not the same as MCCONNELL's or DANAHAY's above. STOVER (157) agrees with HUGHES AND GEDULD.

GANGNES: From this point through the end of the installment, very significant changes were made between the serialized version and the 1898 volume. Apart from a large cut (see below), the final four large paragraphs were moved to the beginning of the next chapter (XVII). This difference changes the narrative's pacing and moments of suspense. See text comparison page.

GANGNES: Cut from the 1898 volume; perhaps it was thought to be redundant, especially with the change in chapter division. See note above and text comparison page.

From HUGHES AND GEDULD 234: "a small town on the river Lea, in southwest Essex, bordering Epping Forest. In the 1890s there was an old gunpowder factory in the area."

GANGNES: about 15 miles to the east and slightly north of Edgware

From HUGHES AND GEDULD 233: "Fully named Southend-on-Sea. A resort town in southeast Essex at the mouth of the Thames, thirty-three miles east of central London."

From HUGHES AND GEDULD 233: "Shoebury or Shoeburyness [is] a coastal town at the mouth of the Thames, just east of Southend and thirty-eight miles east of London."

GANGNES: Southend is about 45 miles directly east of Edgware; Shoeburyness is just slightly east of that along the coast.

From HUGHES AND GEDULD 228: Deal is "a resort town in Eastern Kent, about seven miles from Dover and sixty-eight miles east-southeast of central London."

From HUGHES AND GEDULD 227: Broadstairs is "a coastal town in northeast Kent, on the English Channel, about seventy miles east-southeast of central London."

GANGNES: Deal is slightly south of Broadstairs.

From MCCONNELL 223: "[Hot-air] Ballooning began in the late eighteenth century. It was employed for military purposes in the American Civil War, and many prophecies of the late nineteenth century envisaged the wartime use of balloons for both reconnaissance and bombardment."

From MCCONNELL 224: "The Goths were a Teutonic people who invaded and settled in the Roman Empire between the third and fifth centuries A.D. The Huns, an Asiatic people, invaded and pillaged the Empire during the fifth century A.D."

From HUGHES AND GEDULD 215: "The Goths, a Germanic tribe, invaded Rome's Eastern and Western Empires during the third through the fifth century. The Huns, a nomadic Asian people, under their leader Atilla, invaded and ravaged much of Europe during the fifth century."

From MCCONNELL 224: extensions

From DANAHAY 127: new branches of "black smoke"

From DANAHAY 127: blob

GANGNES: gunpowder for cannons and other artillery

GANGNES: which is to say, cut the telegraph wires to make distance communication impossible

This installment comprises the text that is roughly comparable to Book I ("The Coming of the Martians"), Chapter XIV and part of XV of the 1898 collected edition and subsequent versions.

This is the cover of the August 1897 issue of Pearson's Magazine:

From DANAHAY 99: "a vaudeville type of entertainment in a theater comprised of singing, comedy and dancing"

From HUGHES AND GEDULD 234: Virginia Water is "a small town in northwest Surrey, eighteen miles west-southwest of central London. It is the site of an artificial lake from which the town takes its name."

From HUGHES AND GEDULD 229: Guildford is "a town in west-central Surrey, on the river Wey, about twenty-five miles southwest of central London."

From HUGHES AND GEDULD 223: Southampton is "a major seaport in south Hampshire, about seventy miles southwest of London."

From HUGHES AND GEDULD 232: Portsmouth is "a town and major naval base on Portsea Island, southeast Hampshire, sixty-three miles southwest of central London."

From MCCONNELL 192: Sunday Leagues were "religious groups which gathered to protest the opening of pubs on the Sabbath"

From DANAHAY 99: a Sunday League was a group "opposed to opening the pubs on Sundays [who] organized wholesome alternatives such as excursions"

From HUGHES AND GEDULD 212: "In the 1890s, Sunday papers far outsold dailies.... Wells did not foresee the change and unwittingly 'dated' his narrative for future readers" when newspaper reading habits changed.

From MCCONNELL 193: "light cavalry specializing in swift attack"

From MCCONNELL 193: "Two evening papers. The Sun was published 1893-1906, the Referee 1877-1928.

From HUGHES AND GEDULD 212: "The Sun, London's first popular halfpenny evening newspaper, was established in 1893 by T. P. O'Connor. A former London weekly, the Referee (founded 1877), was popular for its focus on humor, satire, sports, and theater."

GANGNES: The Referee was a "Sunday sporting newspaper"; the Sun was a Tory newspaper.

Source:

• Brake, Laurel, and Marysa Demoor, editors. Dictionary of Nineteenth-Century Journalism in Great Britain and Ireland. Academia Press and The British Library, 2009, pp. 317; 555.

From DANAHAY 100: "a collection of wild or foreign animals kept for exhibition"

From MCCONNELL 193: "One of the first hospitals and nurseries for abandoned or illegitimate children, the Foundling Hospital was founded in 1739 in the London district of Bloomsbury."

From HUGHES AND GEDULD 212: "The Founding Hospital, in Bloomsbury, London, near the British Museum, was established in 1739 by Thomas Coram. Despite its name, it was not a home for foundlings but a shelter for illegitimate children whose mothers were known."

From HUGHES AND GEDULD 212: "The various routes and stations of the (now defunct) South-Western Railway Company. Its terminus is Waterloo Station, London. The network had three main branches: the Northern, serving locations in the direction of Staines and Reading; the Central, serving locations in the direction of Bournemouth and Southampton; and the Southern, serving locations in the direction of Guildford, Epsom, and Leatherhead."

GANGNES: village/area on the south bank of the Thames on the way from Woking toward central London; about three-quarters of the way there

From HUGHES AND GEDULD 232: "a district of London located immediately south of the Thames, about seven miles west of the city center"

From DANAHAY 101: small carriages with two wheels

GANGNES: village on the south bank of the Thames on the way from Woking to central London, beyond Weybridge and Walton but not quite as far as Kingston

From MCCONNELL 194: The first "tube"/underground railway was opened in London in 1890.

From DANAHAY 101: "green spaces supposed to act like 'lungs' providing clean air for the rest of London"

From MCCONNELL 195: "That is, the authorities are blocking off the area from which the Martian invasion comes."

From HUGHES AND GEDULD 213: "Adjoining the Waterloo Station terminus of the South-Western Railway was another station belonging to the South-Eastern Railway (a separate company providing service to locations in the direction of Margate, Dover, Folkstone, and Hastings), whose terminus was Charing Cross. Normally there were barriers preventing passengers from moving directly from one railroad to another. These barriers had been lifted because of the emergency situation."

From HUGHES AND GEDULD 235: Woolwich is "a suburb of greater London, on the south bank of the Thames, about ten miles from central London. It is the site of the Royal Arsenal, Royal Military Academy, and Royal Artillery Barracks."

From HUGHES AND GEDULD 228: Chatham is "a town in north Kent and the site of an important naval base. It is on the river Medway, about thirty miles east-southeast of London."

From DANAHAY 102: evening prayer

From MCCONNELL 195: "The Salvation Army was founded in 1878 by the Methodist minister and social worker William Booth, for the purpose of aiding the inhabitants of the terrible slums in the East End of London."

From DANAHAY 102: young women

From STOVER 137: residue from the Black Smoke upstream

GANGNES: The Houses of Parliament are on the north bank of the Thames in Westminster, between Westminster Abbey and Westminster Bridge. The "Clock Tower" here is commonly referred to today as "Big Ben."

From MCCONNELL 195: "The reorganization of the British Army included an emphasis upon the reserve forces; but there was considerable doubt throughout the years before World War I whether a 'reserve' soldier would really be able to function in a battlefield situation."

From DANAHAY 102: "somebody in the army reserve force"

From DANAHAY 102: working-class young men

GANGNES: Fleet Street is a central London road on the north side of the Thames; it becomes (the) Strand (see below) to the west. During the Victorian period it was the home of most major London periodical publishers. It is associated with the story of Sweeney Todd: the "Demon Barber of Fleet Street," who appeared in the Victorian "penny dreadful" The String of Pearls: A Romance (1846-7).

From HUGHES AND GEDULD 229: Fleet Street is "a famous central London thoroughfare linking Ludgate Circus and The Strand. Until 1988 it was the home of many of London's most important newspapers. During Wells's lifetime 'Fleet Street' was a term synonymous with the British press."

More information:

• Wikipedia article on the character of Sweeney Todd
• "The String of Pearls" text on VictorianLondon.org
• Judith Flanders, "Penny Dreadfuls," on the British Library's website

From HUGHES AND GEDULD 213: "This is a slip. Until about 1870, paper was dampened to ensure a good printing impression and was then dried, but by the 1890s dry paper was used.... The anachronism disappears in the Heinemann edition (p. 127), which reads: 'type, so fresh that the paper was still wet.'"

GANGNES: It is unclear what HUGHES AND GEDULD mean when they write that the "anachronism disappears in the Heinemann edition"; the Heinemann edition also includes this line on page 124.

From HUGHES AND GEDULD 227: Barnes is "a district of greater London south of the Thames, between Putney (on the east) and Mortlake (on the west), and about six miles west-southwest of central London."

From HUGHES AND GEDULD 235: Wimbledon is "a district of greater London, in north Surrey, about eight miles southwest of central London. Famous as the home of the All England Lawn Tennis Club--where international tennis tournaments are held annually. The sixth cylinder lands here."

From HUGHES AND GEDULD 233: Richmond Park is "a large recreation area in Richmond."

From HUGHES AND GEDULD 230: Kew is a "residential district in Richmond, northeast Surrey, on the Thames, about eight miles west of central London. It is the site of Kew Gardens (the Royal Botanical Gardens), with its famous Pagoda."

From HUGHES AND GEDULD 213: "Threepence a copy was three to six times the normal price."

From DANAHAY 102: "Wells is implying that newspapers were exploiting the situation by making their newspapers unusually expensive."

From MCCONNELL 196: "heavy cannon mounted on carriages"

From MCCONNELL 196: "Field pieces with finely-wound wire, coiled under tension, inside their barrels. An early form of rifling (introduced in 1855), the wire coil made it possible to construct a much thinner and lighter barrel than previously, and also increased greatly the effective range of the projectile. Wire guns were used extensively during the period, and in the First World War."

From DANAHAY 103: "artillery with wire wound in the barrels that increased their power and range"

From MCCONNELL 197: "That is, an official statement which does not quite claim to be an official statement."

GANGNES: The newspaper editors were so eager to get the newspapers printed and sell them that they did not include any journalistic commentary or other textual commentary on the proclamation; they simply reprinted it.

GANGNES: The other content they would have expected this newspaper to usually contain was left out so that it could accommodate the entire proclamation in large letters.

From DANAHAY 104: "people who sold in the streets by shouting out the name of their product"

From MCCONNELL 197: these gloves were "highly fashionable, even somewhat dandified," in the late 1890s

GANGNES: The shopkeeper is displaying maps of Surrey in his store window because that is the region in which the Martian invasion is taking place (Woking and its surrounding villages are in Surrey). He likely hopes that advertising the map in his window will prompt customers to buy maps of Surrey from him so they can follow the action.

GANGNES: A famous square/plaza in central London, situated just to the south of the National Gallery. It features an iconic tower surrounded by four large lions. See the City of London's official page on the Square.

From HUGHES AND GEDULD 234: "Central London's most famous concourse, dedicated to England's naval hero, Lord Nelson (and his victory at Trafalgar in 1805). In the center of the square there is a granite column, 145 feet tall, crowned with a statue of Nelson."

From MCCONNELL 198: "the 'Coventry' tricycle, two wheels with a much larger supporting wheel to one side, current around 1876"

From HUGHES AND GEDULD 213: sometimes nicknamed "Tuppence-farthing bikes" (because of their appearance)

GANGNES: The 1898 edition changes "Sutton" to "Epsom."

From MCCONNELL 198: "The town of Epsom, south of London, is the annual site of the Derby."

From HUGHES AND GEDULD 213: "teeming with people"; see Frith's painting "Derby Day" (1856-58) (below)

GANGNES: Regent's Park is a large public park in the northern part of central London. It lies north of the Thames, and it would likely take the narrator's brother a little under an hour to walk there from the south, depending on where in Westminster he is and where his apartment is situated. Wells's final home was near Regent's Park.

From HUGHES AND GEDULD 232: Regent's Park is "central London's largest park, containing the London Zoo and the Botanical Gardens. It extends north from Marylebone Road to Primrose Hill; and west from Albany to Grand Union Canal."

From DANAHAY 105: "people dressed in their best clothes out for a stroll"

From MCCONNELL 199: courting

From MCCONNELL 199: "The first practical electric light had been developed by Thomas Edison in 1879, but the cities of Europe and America were still lit by gas at the time of the story."

GANGNES: early hours after midnight ("wee hours")

From STOVER 141: "Army barracks in central London. In the event, soldiers quartered there are useless in facing unconventional Martian forces."

From DANAHAY 106: alarm bell or warning

From HUGHES AND GEDULD 232: "a major shopping thoroughfare in central London, northeast of Hyde Park. It extends east from Marble Arch to Tottenham Court Road."

GANGNES: In this case, not unintelligent, but rather, unaware or unknowing.

From MCCONNELL 201: "This was nearly fifty times the normal price of a newspaper."

From DANAHAY 107: "The price of a newspaper [since earlier in the installment] has now risen from threepence to a shilling, or twelve pence."

From DANAHAY 107: "Wells's vision of the use of poison gas, which was used as a weapon for the first time in World War I."

GANGNES: Some illustrations of The War of the Worlds created during and soon after the First World War distinguish themselves by focusing on the black smoke instead of the heat ray. One such illustration is the book cover for a Danish edition published in 1941. Considered in the light of weapons used during the First and Second World Wars, images such as this one become particularly haunting.

From MCCONNELL 202: "in a body, in a crowd"

From DANAHAY 107: "in one huge mass"

From MCCONNELL 202: "equivalent of fifty dollars at the time"

From STOVER 145: Another evocation of the Prussian military model; their communications were superior to those of the French in the Franco-Prussian War.

From MCCONNELL 203: "prepared to fire"

From MCCONNELL 203: "crying or moaning"

From DANAHAY 109: "a high-pitched cry that goes up and down the scale"

From HUGHES AND GEDULD 233: "a town in Middlesex, at the junction of the rivers Colne and Thames, eighteen miles west-southwest of central London."

GANGNES: These villages are all to the north or east of Woking and would be suitably arranged to face the crescent of Martian fighting machines.

From HUGHES AND GEDULD 230: Hounslow is "a suburban area of Middlesex, about ten miles west of central London."

From HUGHES AND GEDULD 231: Ockham is "a village in Surrey, about two and a half miles southeast of Woking and five miles northwest of Guildford."

From HUGHES AND GEDULD 233: "a village in Surrey adjoining Send, two and a half miles southeast of Woking and five miles north-northeast of Guildford."

From HUGHES AND GEDULD 233: "located about five miles north-northeast of Woking Station."

GANGNES: MCCONNELL and HUGHES AND GEDULD seem to be at odds here about the historical significance of this reference. STOVER (147) agrees with HUGHES AND GEDULD.

From MCCONNELL 206: "From September 2 to October 7, 1812, the French Army of Napoleon occupied Moscow, burning and destroying more than three-fourths of the city. They were finally compelled to retreat, however, due to Russian guerrilla resistance and the impossibility of acquiring adequate provisions."

From HUGHES AND GEDULD 213: "To frustrate the Martians by destroying their major objective, London, as the Russians did to Napoleon in 1812 by setting fire to Moscow."

From MCCONNELL 206: "guns designed to fire at intervals of one minute"

GANGNES: villages to the northeast of Woking on the south bank of the Thames, roughly between Walton and Kingston

From HUGHES AND GEDULD 228: Ditton is "a small town in central Kent, about four miles northwest of Maidstone."

From HUGHES AND GEDULD 229: Esher is "a small town in northeast Surrey, fifteen miles southwest of London."

From STOVER 148: "Small hills of South African locution made familiar to English readers in accounts of the Boer War, from behind which Boer guerrillas sniped on English troops. Although the war did not officially break out until 1899, the landscape of the coming conflict was reported by [Rudyard] Kipling."

GANGNES: HUGHES AND GEDULD (213) observe that this is likely a reference to Satan's "infernal artillery" in Milton's Paradise Lost, rather than a "celestial artillery" (STOVER 148 uses this term as well) as an inverse of "earthly artillery." In the context of a Martian invasion, however, "celestial" in opposition to "infernal" becomes complicated; in a narrative like Milton's, it would refer to Heaven, whereas in the context of Wells, it would be "the heavens," i.e., space. The Martians are far from benevolent angels; they are, perhaps, "avenging angels," or akin to infernal beings, despite being from a neighboring planet. In the context of this novel, might we imagine a new kind of artillery: an "alien artillery"?

GANGNES: In the serialized version of the novel, Chapter V was divided in half between installments 5 and 6. This imposed a kind of "false cliffhanger" that was often seen in Victorian serialized fiction because periodicals had a set number of pages per issue (sometimes with a little wiggle room) to devote to an installment of a serialized work.

This "false cliffhanger" would have affected a Victorian reader's sense of pacing and the feeling of suspense caused by the abrupt end of the installment in the middle of an intense battle. This a "to be continued" moment that was created by serialization rather than an author's intended pacing.

This installment comprises the text that is roughly comparable to Book I ("The Coming of the Martians"), Chapters XII-XIII of the 1898 collected edition and subsequent versions.

This is the cover of the July 1897 issue of Pearson's Magazine:

From MCCONNELL 173: "four to eight guns in the Horse Artillery of the time"

GANGNES: In the 1898 edition of the novel, this phrasing is changed and expanded in a way that begins to flesh out the artilleryman as a character. In the serialized version, we never see the artilleryman again after this installment, but he returns and serves a large role in the 1898 edition. See text comparison page and another note on the artilleryman farther down this page.

From HUGHES AND GEDULD 209: The narrator "intends to make a northerly bypass of Leatherhead then circle back to it from the east."