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A stranger on a train reveals his secret. Robert Bathurst reads the 1901 anti-war story with a disturbing vision of the future.

A stranger on a train reveals his secret. When he dreams, he enters a future reality of an advanced civilization descending into senseless war. Read in two-parts by Robert Bathurst.

Written in 1901, this is a disturbing vision of the future - as Wells comes uncannily close to predicting the horrors of the Second World War.

English author and political philosopher, HG Wells is recognised as one of sci-fi's founding-fathers. Within his own lifetime, he became a literary celebrity, earning praise from contemporaries such as Henry James and Joseph Conrad. His influence was wide reaching; George Orwell in particular - "The minds of all of us, and therefore the physical world, would be perceptibly different if Wells never existed." In recent years his work has enjoyed a renaissance, including Steven Spielberg's 2005 film of War Of The Worlds.

Wells died on August 13th, 1946, aged 79.

Producer: Gemma Jenkins

Made for BBC Radio 7 and first broadcast in 2006.

30 minutes

Last on

Fri 2 Nov 201800:00
BBC Radio 4 Extra

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Broadcasts

  • Mon 24 Mar 200818:30
    BBC Radio 7
  • Tue 25 Mar 200800:30
    BBC Radio 7
  • Thu 23 Oct 200818:30
    BBC Radio 7
  • Fri 24 Oct 200800:30
    BBC Radio 7
  • Mon 8 Jun 200918:30
    BBC Radio 7
  • Tue 9 Jun 200900:30
    BBC Radio 7
  • Sat 9 Jan 201018:30
    BBC Radio 7
  • Sun 10 Jan 201000:30
    BBC Radio 7
  • Thu 30 Dec 201018:00
    BBC Radio 7
  • Fri 31 Dec 201000:00
    BBC Radio 7
  • Sat 30 Nov 201318:30
    BBC Radio 4 Extra
  • Sun 1 Dec 201300:30
    BBC Radio 4 Extra
  • Sun 18 Sep 201618:00
    BBC Radio 4 Extra
  • Mon 19 Sep 201600:00
    BBC Radio 4 Extra
  • Thu 1 Nov 201818:00
    BBC Radio 4 Extra
  • Fri 2 Nov 201800:00
    BBC Radio 4 Extra