The virus and the Martians

H.G. Wells' The War of the Worlds feels more relevant and unsettling now than ever. In the acclaimed novel, an all-conquering civilization had no defence against a humble microbe. Coincidently, Wells' book also offers a glimpse into what a world stopped in its tracks could look like, something that in pandemic times as today's can be all too eerily familiar. In Lapham's Quarterly, Mike Jay contemplates nature's influence in our futuristic depictions of society, through the lense of Wells' fascinating work.