Mankind in the Making

Wells, H. G. (Herbert George), 1866-1946Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.7

Word count: 611K words
Chapters: 62

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Mankind in the Making by H. G. WellsAuthor: Wells, H. G. (Herbert George), 1866-1946,Language: English, Class: HN: Social sciences: Social history and conditions, Social problems, Release Date: Dec 1, 2004

Editor's review

Mankind in the Making is a work of social criticism published by Wells in the early twentieth century, belonging to a different strand from the science fiction for which he later became better known. The book discusses how society shapes people and how education, the family, custom, and institutions mold the character and capacities of a generation; it belongs to the literature of social history and social problems. Wells's approach is distinctly argumentative and engineer-like, habitually treating society as an object that can be designed and improved, so the book combines observations of the social conditions of its time with a great many forward-looking proposals. Read today, some specific judgments have plainly dated, but its underlying concerns—the aims of education, intergenerational responsibility, the feasible paths of social reform—remain worth discussing. It suits readers interested in the history of social thought, educational questions, and Wells's nonfiction, as a text for understanding early twentieth-century reformist currents rather than as a practical guide to present-day social policy.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in the history of social thought and early reformist currents
Thoughtful readers concerned with education, the family, and intergenerational responsibility
Readers who want to know Wells's nonfiction beyond his science fiction
Social science students with English reading ability willing to take on a long argument

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting Wells's science fiction
Researchers hoping for contemporary empirical data and policy proposals
Casual readers who prefer light narrative and have no patience for long argument

Reading tips

Begin with the table of contents and the opening paragraphs of each chapter to grasp the book's overall structure of argument, then choose the chapters on education and the family for close reading.
Mark judgments limited by their era as you read and set them against present-day views, forming your own annotations.
Read alongside background material on early twentieth-century British social history to understand the real problems the book's proposals addressed.
If the English argument proves difficult, read a Chinese summary of a chapter before returning to the original to lower the barrier to entry.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this a science fiction novel by Wells?

No. It is a work of social criticism and social problems, discussing how society shapes people and the role of education and institutions. For Wells's science fiction, choose novels such as The Time Machine or The War of the Worlds.

Do the book's views still hold today?

Some specific proposals bear clear marks of their era and should be read critically; but its core concerns, such as the aims of education, intergenerational responsibility, and the possibility of social reform, remain worth discussing. Read it as a text in intellectual history rather than as a contemporary program.

Can I understand it without a social science background?

Yes. Wells writes for general readers, and his arguments rest mainly on common sense and observation, with a low threshold of terminology. The main difficulty lies in long English sentences and dense argument; slow down, proceed chapter by chapter, and do not feel obliged to finish it in one go.

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About the author

Wells, H. G. (Herbert George), 1866-1946 Author

H. G. Wells (Herbert George, 1866–1946) was a renowned British author best known for his science fiction and socially engaged works. The collection holds 76 of his works, including The Invisible Man, The Time Machine, The War of the Worlds, The Red Room, and The Door in the Wall, and Other Stories, as well as the historical survey The Outline of History. His science fiction often starts from scientific premises and explores technological loss of control, human weakness, and social crisis, with bold imagination and clear narration; The Outline of History reflects his approachable, well-structured writing for general readers. Public information is limited, so biographical details are not elaborated here, but his works show a mastery of novels, short stories, and popular history, and his influence on later science fiction is profound.