War of the Worlds was originally a Novel written by H.G. Wells in 1898. It is basically about how the Martians invade the
Earth. They use highly advanced technology (advanced for 1898) to crush all
human resistance in their path. They are initially successful and use human blood to feed their "red weed" which was plentiful on
Mars before the planet started "dying" (motivation for Martians to invade). Eventually, however, the Martians die off when micro organisms make them
ill as they are not immune to them (it was described that the Martians had eradicated all mirobes on
Mars).
It should be noted that there is a lot of political and social commentary. For example: In the Novel Martians are being compared to the then all mighty British Empire. It also comments on Evolution (comparing the Martians to
Humans), and the treatment of "inferior creatures" (it compares the Martians' treatment of
Humans to the "Superior Humans'" treatment of animals and "inferior races").
Also, the Novel Wells descibed the possible ways Chemical weapons could be deployed and predicted the coming of Lasers (the
Heat-Rays).
War of the Worlds is one of the greatest science fiction novels of all time.
It is interesting to note that the Martians had failed to conquer more than the southern part of
England (they only sent
ten "
space canisters" with only ten "fighting machines").
