Manjit KaurNov 25, 2022
Lilian Mae Ball

I still get shocked surprise when I tell people that H G Wells wrote War of the Worlds after learning about the genocide inflicted by British colonists on the Aboriginal Tasmanians. It's right there in the foreword of the book.

#HGWells #WarOfTheWorlds #Indigenous #FirstNations #Aboriginal #lutruwita

Nov 23, 2022 at 9:22amWeb
Show threadWilsoNov 23, 2022
@maegrenofwithy thanks for revealing that
Show threadClare 🐻Nov 23, 2022

@maegrenofwithy
This is why I love social media

I'm the world's least prolific book reader, but live for factoids like this - thanks for sharing 💜

Show threadMake it BlueNov 23, 2022

@maegrenofwithy

It's these kinds of facts that make me balk at rhetoric used for example during Hunt's budget speech declaring the British have always been a force of good in the world (paraphrasing). Surely they learn history at private schools?

Show threadLilian Mae BallNov 23, 2022
@WhiteSunday This is why the good citizens of Bristol threw the statue of slaver Colston into the Docks
Show threadCiarán FerrieNov 23, 2022
@maegrenofwithy Thanks for sharing that, I had no idea
Show threadThe Drop Bear 2.0 Nov 24, 2022
@ccferrie @maegrenofwithy oh gosh, that’s confronting reading 😬
Show thread🗡️ 🗡️ 🗡️Nov 23, 2022

@maegrenofwithy right on. The opening paragraph is great writing but also clearly describing colonialism.

That’s my beef with the Spielberg post-9/11 version that serves empire more than anti-imperialism.

Show threadMarie WalshNov 23, 2022
@maegrenofwithy
Wow, this I didn't Know ! 😟
Show threadJust Tom... 🐁Nov 23, 2022
@maegrenofwithy - and genocide it was as the British swept the island state from end to end. One of the most shocking episodes in Britain's shocking colonial history.
Show thread*siigghhhh*Nov 23, 2022
@maegrenofwithy I would love to have a photo of this from a physical book. It would be a powerful social media share.
Show threadSteven Stadnicki (he/him)Nov 23, 2022
@maegrenofwithy Do you know if that foreward is online anywhere? Project Gutenberg's version of the book doesn't seem to have it and some searches aren't turning up much. :/
Show threadLilian Mae BallNov 24, 2022
@sstadnicki 6th para of chapter one, The Eve of War
Show threadSteven Stadnicki (he/him)Nov 24, 2022
@maegrenofwithy Ahh! Thank you; that's much appreciated.
Show threadLilian Mae BallNov 24, 2022
@sstadnicki You're welcome!
Show threadMaude NificentNov 24, 2022

@sstadnicki @maegrenofwithy

I use apple devices, but even if you don’t, you should be able to use iTunes/ open an account

their book store makes many books available free or for a token fee, once they are out of copyright;

H G Wells’ works are included

Text Warning; includes a reference to Tasmanian First Peoples as inferior, and repeats the now debunked claim that First Peoples were eradicated.

Show threadLowlife's opinionated stuffNov 24, 2022
@maudenificent @sstadnicki @maegrenofwithy I do not think it can be stressed enough that it should be made clear that these are the words of The Narrator, and not of Wells himself. Many folks attribute them to Wells himself, which by reading the text is just obviously not the case heh.
Show threadMaude NificentNov 24, 2022

@relwalretep @sstadnicki @maegrenofwithy

fair observation 💐

(was thinking more in terms of who might read this in my post)

Show threadLowlife's opinionated stuffNov 24, 2022
@maudenificent @sstadnicki @maegrenofwithy no worries at all, mate. It's kinda an auto reaction of mine when I see people get this deep into what the story is actually about heh. I live about 3km from the "actual" "Horsell Commons" in Tasmanian (aka piyura kitina/Risdon Cove) and drive past the site about once a week.
Show threadMaude NificentNov 24, 2022

@relwalretep @sstadnicki @maegrenofwithy

👍

Show threadWatersheddNov 24, 2022
@maegrenofwithy @Stavros i had no idea. Thank you.
Show threadGayaSaMundoNov 24, 2022
@maegrenofwithy
Yup
https://daily.jstor.org/what-the-war-of-the-world-had-to-do-with-tasmania/ via @JSTOR_Daily
What The War of the Worlds Had to Do with Tasmania - JSTOR Daily

H.G. Wells's famous science fiction novel imagines what would happen if Martians did to Great Britain what Europeans did to Tasmania.

JSTOR Daily
Show threadAutisticMumTo3Nov 24, 2022
@maegrenofwithy
I didn't know that but I can certainly see the parallel.
@Stavros
Show threadLowlife's opinionated stuffNov 24, 2022
@maegrenofwithy yup, same. Even with locals here, they don't like talking about it that much if at all (I live about 3km from "Horsell Commons"). What gets me is many folks seem to think the language used to describe Aboriginal Tasmanians in the book is Wells' own, and not that of The Narrator character in the book.
Show threadThe Drop Bear 2.0 Nov 24, 2022
@maegrenofwithy @Tassie_JR huh, that’s my favourite book. I’ll need to reread now in that context. Thankyou!
Show threadUnderwaterSomething he\theyNov 24, 2022
@maegrenofwithy I didn't know that but I haven't read it. That's good to know
Show threadNathan deGargoyle 🇮🇲🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳Nov 24, 2022
@maegrenofwithy if I ever knew that I'd forgotten it so thank you. Mind you it is 50 years since I last read the book so...
Show threadRCSNov 24, 2022

@maegrenofwithy

I didn't know that! Coincidentally I was just reading about the British genocide today.

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/_/archive.htm?shr=h19320uIJ4A

Tasmania Sighted by Dutch

While in the service of the Dutch East India Company, Abel Tasman became the first European to sight the island of Tasmania, naming it Van Diemen's Land after the Governor of the Dutch East Indies. In 1803, Britain took possession of the island and established a penal colony there. The indigenous population, which had been on the island some 35,000 years, was soon decimated. In 1856, the island was granted self-government and renamed Tasmania. Today, Tasmania is a state of what country?

TheFreeDictionary.com
Show threadLukeAddisonUKNov 24, 2022
@maegrenofwithy I did not know that. Thanks for sharing.
Show threadBill RickerNov 24, 2022
@maegrenofwithy a dear friend dedicated the Forward of his book to Those People who Read Forwards.
Show threadVeronicaNov 24, 2022
@maegrenofwithy Well, I could say that shocked me,but the more I learn about British history,I’m no longer shocked,just ashamed.
Show threadantipode77Nov 25, 2022

@maegrenofwithy

#wells

Anyone desiring to read the story and a lot more by H.G Wells can download these for free.

The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells - Free Ebook
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/36

Free software for epub reading.
PC : Calibre, Android : ReadEra

The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells

Free kindle book and epub digitized and proofread by volunteers.

Project Gutenberg
Show threadCJsCornerNov 26, 2022
@maegrenofwithy It's surprising how many don't read the foreword or author notes or anything else. I admit I often don't either. Which is really dumb... Lol
Show threadDoryNov 27, 2022
@maegrenofwithy the human race is a plague and the British and Spaniards are at the top. I went to Peru and the guide mainly spoke of the atrocities the Spanish people did and stole from them, it was heartbreaking.
Show threadDan ShickNov 27, 2022

@maegrenofwithy I can’t find a version with a foreword, but indeed Wells mentions the Tasmanians in the first chapter. thanks for mentioning this, i was delighted to find the entire text on Wikisource!

https://en.m.wikisource.org/wiki/The_War_of_the_Worlds_(1898)/Book_1/Chapter_1

The War of the Worlds (1898)/Book 1/Chapter 1 - Wikisource, the free online library

Show threadFull Metal AccountantNov 27, 2022
@maegrenofwithy
I had forgotten about that.
Show threadThaiis Thei 𓁟Nov 27, 2022
@maegrenofwithy Tasmanian aboriginals are not extinct! Not trying to minimise the scope of what was done to them by my ancestors, but rather correcting the common misinformation that they were completely wiped out.
Show threadLilian Mae BallNov 27, 2022
@Oozenet Yes, the colonisers want everyone to believe in the myth that no one survived, because then they dont have to do anything about these crimes.
Show threadHarry CallahanNov 27, 2022
@maegrenofwithy A new fact for me. Thanks.
Show threadVoradams Nov 27, 2022
@maegrenofwithy most people also get the wrong message about War of the World's. It is a sci-fi allegory on the uselessness of social classes. Old Herbert would not be popular with the RWNJ out there....
Show threadSTEAM_Annie 🇬🇧Nov 27, 2022
@maegrenofwithy Hi Lilian, Pls would you give details of the edition you’ve read. I didn’t know this and would like to reread it.
Show threadMegClarkClimateDec 1, 2022
@maegrenofwithy wow. I did not know this. Will check it out.