The World Set Free: Free Audiobook and Listening Guide

The World Set Free, credited to H. G. Wells, is available as a LibriVox volunteer audiobook. This guide identifies the recording, its source summary and its audio tracks.

About the work

The LibriVox catalogue summary, preserved with the recording, reads:

LibriVox recording of The World Set Free, by H. G. Wells. Read by LivelyHive. The World Set Free is a novel published in 1914 by H. G. Wells. The book is considered a prophetical novel foretelling the advent of nuclear weapons. A constant theme in Wells's work, such as his 1901 nonfiction book Anticipations, was the role of energy and technological advance as a determinant of human progress. The novel opens: "The history of mankind is the history of the attainment of external power. Man is the tool-using, fire-making animal." Scientists of the day were well aware that the slow natural radioactive decay of elements like radium continues for thousands of years, and that while the rate of energy release is negligible, the total amount released is huge. Wells used this as the basis for his story. (Summary from Wikipedia)

Recording facts

• Recording title: The World Set Free
• Author credits: H. G. Wells
• Language: English
• Original MP3 tracks: 11
• Listed recording duration: 8:10:23

Catalogue topics

• science
• fiction

Track guide

1. 00 - Prelude — 55:57
2. 01 - Ch 1, The Sun Snarers, sections 1-4 — 39:30
3. 02 - Ch 1, The Sun Snarers, sections 5-8 — 37:59
4. 03 - Ch 2, The Last War, sections 1-4 — 45:58
5. 04 - Ch 2, The Last War, sections 5-10 — 51:22
6. 05 - Ch 3, The Ending of War, sections 1-5 — 59:00
7. 06 - Ch 3, The Ending of War, sections 6-8 — 39:26
8. 07 - Ch 4, The New Phase, sections 1-8 — 55:04
9. 08 - Ch 4, The New Phase, sections 9-12 — 36:08
10. 09 - Ch 5, The Last Days of Marcus Karenin, sections 1-5 — 36:09
11. 10 - Ch 5, The Last Days of Marcus Karenin, sections 6-10 — 33:56

Listen to this recording

Open the complete recording and player on Internet Archive. The player includes the full track list and available download formats.

Source and rights

This is a record from LibriVox's official Internet Archive collection, with a public-domain licence recorded in its metadata. LibriVox's policy includes its catalogue summaries as well as its recordings. Its public-domain assessment follows United States law; copyright status can differ elsewhere. The summary and track facts are reproduced and reformatted from that record. Dates attached to the archive upload are not treated as original book publication dates.