H. G. Wells (1866?1946) was a professional writer and journalist who published more than a hundred books. He is widely considered the father of science fiction. Gillian Beer is president of the British Comparative Literature Association. Michael Foot is a former leader of the Labour Party in England and the author of numerous volumes of literary criticism. Simon J. James is a lecturer in Victorian literature at the University of Durham. John S. Partington is the editor of "The Wellsian," the annual journal of the H. G. Wells Society.