H.G. Wells Non-Fiction books in order

Q: "How many books are in the H.G. Wells Non-Fiction series?"

"There are 39 books in the H.G. Wells Non-Fiction series, published between 1901 and 2006."

Q: "What is the first book in the H.G. Wells Non-Fiction series?"

"The first book in the H.G. Wells Non-Fiction series is Certain Personal Matters."

Q: "What are H.G. Wells's most notable non-fiction works?"

"The Outline of History (1919) is probably his best-known non-fiction book, a massive attempt to write a complete history of the world for general readers. A Short History of the World (1922) is a condensed version. Experiment in Autobiography (1934) covers his own life in detail. Little Wars (1913) is notable for a different reason: it laid out the first formal rules for tabletop wargaming with miniature soldiers."

Reading order

#	Title	Published	Author	Buy on Amazon
1	Certain Personal Matters	-	H.G. Wells	Buy
2	Anticipations	1901	H.G. Wells	Buy
3	The Discovery of the Future	1902	H.G. Wells	Buy
4	Mankind in the Making	1903	H.G. Wells	Buy
5	The Future in America	1906	H.G. Wells	Buy
6	This Misery of Boots	1907	H.G. Wells	Buy
7	First and Last Things	1908	H.G. Wells	N/A
8	New Worlds for Old	1908	H.G. Wells	Buy
9	Floor Games	1911	H.G. Wells	Buy
10	Little Wars	1913	H.G. Wells	Buy
11	An Englishman Looks at the World	1914	H.G. Wells	Buy
12	What is Coming?	1916	H.G. Wells	Buy
13	Elements of Reconstruction	1916	H.G. Wells	Buy
14	God the Invisible King	1917	H.G. Wells	N/A
15	War and the Future / Italy, France and Britain at War	1917	H.G. Wells	Buy
16	In The Fourth Year	1918	H.G. Wells	Buy
17	The Outline of History	1919	H.G. Wells	Buy
18	Russia in the Shadows	1920	H.G. Wells	Buy
19	The Salvaging of Civiization	1921	H.G. Wells	Buy
20	A Short History of the World	1922	H.G. Wells	Buy
21	Washington and the Riddle of Peace / Washington and the Hope of Peace	1922	H.G. Wells	Buy
22	A Modern Utopia and Other Discussions	1925	H.G. Wells	Buy
23	The Open Conspiracy: What Are We To Do With Our Lives?	1928	H.G. Wells	Buy
24	The Science of Life	1929	H.G. Wells	Buy
25	The Open Conspiracy and Other Writings	1933	H.G. Wells	Buy
26	Experiment in Autobiography	1934	H.G. Wells	Buy
27	H.G. Wells in Love	1934	H.G. Wells	Buy
28	World Brain	1938	H.G. Wells	Buy
29	The Fate of Homo Sapiens / The Fate of Man	1939	H.G. Wells	Buy
30	The New World Order	1939	H.G. Wells	Buy
31	The Conquest of Time	1942	H.G. Wells	Buy
32	Crux Ansata	1943	H.G. Wells	Buy
33	Mind at the End of Its Tether	1945	H.G. Wells	Buy
34	Frank Swinnerton	1975	H.G. Wells	Buy
35	Interviews and Recollections	1980	H.G. Wells	Buy
36	Experiment in Autobiography, Vol. 2	1984	H.G. Wells	Buy
37	A Volume of Journalism	1999	H.G. Wells	Buy
38	The Conquest of Time and The Happy Turning	2002	H.G. Wells	Buy
39	Little Wars and Floor Games	2006	H.G. Wells	Buy

H.G. Wells wrote non-fiction with the same energy and volume that he brought to his novels. His subjects ranged from world history to politics, from autobiography to the rules of miniature wargaming. He saw himself not just as a storyteller but as a public thinker, and his non-fiction reflects that ambition.

His earliest non-fiction books, like Anticipations (1901) and Mankind in the Making (1903), are speculative works about the future of society. The Outline of History (1919), written in the aftermath of World War I, was a bestseller that attempted to tell the entire story of human civilization in a single narrative. A Short History of the World followed in 1922 as a more accessible version. Wells also wrote extensively about socialism, world government, and the need for a planned global society, ideas he pursued in books like The Open Conspiracy and The New World Order.

On a lighter note, Floor Games (1911) and Little Wars (1913) describe Wells’s rules for playing with toy soldiers and building miniature landscapes. Little Wars is often credited as one of the founding texts of modern tabletop wargaming. His autobiography, Experiment in Autobiography (1934), is a frank and often entertaining account of his life, career, and many relationships.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many books are in the H.G. Wells Non-Fiction series?

There are 39 books in the H.G. Wells Non-Fiction series, published between 1901 and 2006.

What is the first book in the H.G. Wells Non-Fiction series?

The first book in the H.G. Wells Non-Fiction series is Certain Personal Matters.

What are H.G. Wells's most notable non-fiction works?

The Outline of History (1919) is probably his best-known non-fiction book, a massive attempt to write a complete history of the world for general readers. A Short History of the World (1922) is a condensed version. Experiment in Autobiography (1934) covers his own life in detail. Little Wars (1913) is notable for a different reason: it laid out the first formal rules for tabletop wargaming with miniature soldiers.

Reading order#

Frequently Asked Questions

Reading order