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Wells's World Reborn: The Outline of History and Its Companions
Author: William T. Ross. H. G
Susquehanna University Press, 2002. 135 pp. $33.50
H. G. Wells's The Outline of History is sometimes described as the second- greatest selling book published since Gutenberg. Although that claim may not be possible to prove, the book certainly is one of the most popular books of all time. How then can one review a book supposedly describing how and why the book was published? The answer is that you simply cannot do it in 135 pages. It is only possible to describe what is in the 135 pages and hope that people will understand it as a best-seller, a guide to understanding the past, and in a utopian sense, a guidebook for the future.
It is perhaps helpful to begin by listing a few examples of Ross's textual bibliographic findings. There are many editions of Wells's masterpiece, The Outline of History, beginning with a 24-part serial in 1919 and later going through six bound editions. There are also numerous translated editions, editions formatted for elementary students, and several deluxe editions. There are also various covers, illustrations, and distinctive qualities of paper and binding. Wells oversaw all of the editions, even entertaining a Japanese translator and others in his home to discuss the book.
In addition to the texts, a workbook with a Teacher's Handbook and A Supplement for Practical History, provided ideas for art, crafts, murals, plays and other methods to interpret this history were made available. These workbooks were still being published when World War II broke out. A one- volume version, A Shore History, was later condensed in 1925 and "adapted for School use." A suite of essay and discussion questions are located at the rear of this book. In 1926 the book was burned in public, along with another book, Zane Grey's To The Last Man. Those who attended the bonfire service in Harlan County, Kentucky swore never again to read a book criticizing the Book of Genesis in The Bible. Following this event, a book length parody of the Outline was published in 1929.
Finally, Ross mentions that a Junior Version of the Outline was published in 1932 in both English and American editions. There are even murals on the walls at Oundle School which were designed to aid in the study of history. Ross's book provides a very brief look at the other textbooks, but he is more interested in when they were written rather than the content of the books. The amount of effort put into this labor by Wells and his collaborators was prodigious, and made more difficult as he suffered from the influenza pandemic of the time. The work was an extraordinary effort to write a complete history of all aspects of human history, and Wells urged others so write their own outlines so that the basic educational needs which might lead to a world state would eventually bring on the Utopia Wells envisioned. When one adds the other Outlines, The Science of Life, and The Work, Wealth and Happiness of Mankind, it seems a Sisyphean task.
It is clear that Wells took the available tools of his time, typewriters, carbon paper, pens, inexpensive paper and wonderful working conditions to undertake a campaign to make the world over-as he said, to create a "a universally understandable and communicable history and philosophy." Wells once said that Herodotus and Aristotle were his exemplars, and he foresaw a world in which three bases ruled: science, a universal religion "to the open service of one God of Righteousness," and a "world polity."
In 1937, Wells was elected as the new president of a section of the British Association for the Advancement of Science and charged with revising the school curriculum. Wells is at his most brilliant when he is writing about teaching, about learning, and, above all, using these skills to change the world. World War II was too long, too brutal, and the nature of things to come looked to be horrible. Although there is no headstone on a grave, he told an old friend that his choice of words would have been, "God Damn It; I Told You So."
Not all readers liked The Outline of History. A largely Roman Catholic attack on the work ensued from Hilaire Belloc, Father Richard Downey, and Professor A. Gomme. Wells absorbed many of the comments and credited the writers, all except Hilaire Belloc who wrote many articles and a book on the inequity of Wells's ideas. Wells responded to him with a book of his own and many articles. In addition to new knowledge, the decade-long discussion of Wells and his ideas amused many readers in England and the United States.
The Outline of History, as Ross tells us, was an all time best seller, and the controversy over its contents gave it even more publicity. Over the past forty years I have asked many colleagues and students for comments on the work. A surprising number of historians tell of reading the book as a small child under the covers with a flashlight. Even though their politics was different from Wells, most of my colleagues and students remembered the hook with pleasure, remembering how well it was written and, unlike much history of the time, they mentioned that this book was still "fun."
Wells spoke directly to his readers. In a passage about Christianity, he said:
It is perhaps helpful to begin by listing a few examples of Ross's textual bibliographic findings. There are many editions of Wells's masterpiece, The Outline of History, beginning with a 24-part serial in 1919 and later going through six bound editions. There are also numerous translated editions, editions formatted for elementary students, and several deluxe editions. There are also various covers, illustrations, and distinctive qualities of paper and binding. Wells oversaw all of the editions, even entertaining a Japanese translator and others in his home to discuss the book.
In addition to the texts, a workbook with a Teacher's Handbook and A Supplement for Practical History, provided ideas for art, crafts, murals, plays and other methods to interpret this history were made available. These workbooks were still being published when World War II broke out. A one- volume version, A Shore History, was later condensed in 1925 and "adapted for School use." A suite of essay and discussion questions are located at the rear of this book. In 1926 the book was burned in public, along with another book, Zane Grey's To The Last Man. Those who attended the bonfire service in Harlan County, Kentucky swore never again to read a book criticizing the Book of Genesis in The Bible. Following this event, a book length parody of the Outline was published in 1929.
Finally, Ross mentions that a Junior Version of the Outline was published in 1932 in both English and American editions. There are even murals on the walls at Oundle School which were designed to aid in the study of history. Ross's book provides a very brief look at the other textbooks, but he is more interested in when they were written rather than the content of the books. The amount of effort put into this labor by Wells and his collaborators was prodigious, and made more difficult as he suffered from the influenza pandemic of the time. The work was an extraordinary effort to write a complete history of all aspects of human history, and Wells urged others so write their own outlines so that the basic educational needs which might lead to a world state would eventually bring on the Utopia Wells envisioned. When one adds the other Outlines, The Science of Life, and The Work, Wealth and Happiness of Mankind, it seems a Sisyphean task.
It is clear that Wells took the available tools of his time, typewriters, carbon paper, pens, inexpensive paper and wonderful working conditions to undertake a campaign to make the world over-as he said, to create a "a universally understandable and communicable history and philosophy." Wells once said that Herodotus and Aristotle were his exemplars, and he foresaw a world in which three bases ruled: science, a universal religion "to the open service of one God of Righteousness," and a "world polity."
In 1937, Wells was elected as the new president of a section of the British Association for the Advancement of Science and charged with revising the school curriculum. Wells is at his most brilliant when he is writing about teaching, about learning, and, above all, using these skills to change the world. World War II was too long, too brutal, and the nature of things to come looked to be horrible. Although there is no headstone on a grave, he told an old friend that his choice of words would have been, "God Damn It; I Told You So."
Not all readers liked The Outline of History. A largely Roman Catholic attack on the work ensued from Hilaire Belloc, Father Richard Downey, and Professor A. Gomme. Wells absorbed many of the comments and credited the writers, all except Hilaire Belloc who wrote many articles and a book on the inequity of Wells's ideas. Wells responded to him with a book of his own and many articles. In addition to new knowledge, the decade-long discussion of Wells and his ideas amused many readers in England and the United States.
The Outline of History, as Ross tells us, was an all time best seller, and the controversy over its contents gave it even more publicity. Over the past forty years I have asked many colleagues and students for comments on the work. A surprising number of historians tell of reading the book as a small child under the covers with a flashlight. Even though their politics was different from Wells, most of my colleagues and students remembered the hook with pleasure, remembering how well it was written and, unlike much history of the time, they mentioned that this book was still "fun."
Wells spoke directly to his readers. In a passage about Christianity, he said:
Sooner or later mankind must come to one universal peace, unless our race is to be destroyed by the increasing power of its own destructive inventions; and that universal peace must needs take the form of a government. that is to say a law-sustaining organization in the best sense of the word religious, a government ruling [wo]men and men through the education and co-ordination of their minds in a common conception of human history and human destination.
Finally, one could review H. C. Wells's World Reborn: The Outline of History and Its Companions as what it is as we open up the package: it is a well-made book, small (only 135 pages), and blessedly free of the work of Foucault's followers. Ultimately, it is an interesting book, and one that suggests other roads to travel-to read and think about the book itself. One can join Walter Lippmann, Beatrice Webb, Allbert Guerard, Floyd Dell, and Carl Becker who adopted the book and praised it fulsomely. It is a book which cannot be forgotten, and Ross's book effectively brings people into Wells's world. Those seeking a Utopian vision will find a method-in history.David C Smith, University of Maine <Top>
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