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When a Victorian scientist propels himself into the year a.d. 802,701, he is initially delighted to find that suffering has been replaced by beauty, contentment, and peace. Entranced at first by the Eloi, an elfin species descended from man, he soon realizes that these beautiful people are simply remnants of a once-great culturenow weak and childishly afraid of the dark. They have every reason to be afraid: in deep tunnels beneath their paradise lurks another race descended from humanitythe sinister Morlocks. And when the scientists time machine vanishes, it becomes clear he must search these tunnels if he is ever to return to his own era. -Includes a newly established text, a full biographical essay on Wells, a list of further reading, and detailed notes -Marina Warners introduction considers Wellss development of the scientific romance and places the novel in the context of its time

赫·喬·韋爾斯（H.G. Wells, 1866-1946），英國小說傢，社會這傢、曆史學傢。他先在倫敦皇傢學院師從赫胥黎學習生物學，後於1888年畢業於倫敦大學。1895年齣版的科幻小說《時間機器》使他一舉成名。該書以奇特的情節和誇張的手法，諷刺資本主義社會的醜惡現象。其後他又發錶瞭一係列的科幻小說，包括著名的《國際戰爭》《神食》《首先登上月球的人們》等，預言瞭科學對人類産生重要作用的同時也給人類帶來瞭可怕的災難，使人們意識到20世紀技術世界的希望一危險同在。1920年發錶的100萬字的巨著《世界史綱：生物和人類的簡明史》，奠定瞭他作為曆史學傢的地位。從30年代開始，他積極投身政治，見過羅斯福和斯大林。因此，他生前被認為是有創造性的藝術傢，對未來的預言傢和積極的社會改革傢。