'Death'! I shouted. 'Death is coming! Death'! A cylinder from space lands in south-west London, and naive locals approach it armed with a white flag — only to be instantly incinerated by an all-destroying heat-ray, as tentacled Martians emerge. Soon the whole of humanity is under threat, as the invaders build gigantic killing machines that chase and feast on human prey. H.G. Well's 1898 novel was a pioneering work of alien invasion fiction. Greeted with acclaim and alarm on its publication, The War of the Worlds' factual, journalistic style contrasts shockingly with its fantastical and often disturbing story of humanity under siege.