For a period in the 1950s John Wyndham (1903-69) was the best selling science-fiction author in the UK and Australia. Possibly the science-fiction novels of H. G. Wells (1866-1946) may have been more widely read in those countries, but that itself fed Wyndham's readership because Wells's science fiction was his primary model; he was regarded as Wells

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, a young Wells continuing his career in the 1950s. However, he should not be regarded as a Wells clone. Like Wells, Wyndham was an overt Darwinist, but Wells was a member of the lower middle-class on the way up, while Wyndham was a member of the upper middle-class fallen on hard times. This difference of perspective, along with Wyndham's respect for strong females (and anxiety about female sexuality) are enough to give his major…

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Citation: Ketterer, David Anthony Theodor. "John Wyndham". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 07 November 2006 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=4820, accessed 19 March 2024.]

4820 John Wyndham 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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