“Kimberly Benston has created an invaluable edition of
The Island of Doctor Moreau
, H. G. Wells’s darkest and most disturbing tale. The volume’s rich selection of historical documents brings into view the multiple contexts out of which this dystopian narrative emerged, while Benston’s splendid introduction provides fresh and thoughtful assessments of Wells’s distinctive achievement and of its impact both in his day and in our own.” —Stephen Arata, University of Virginia
“Like
itself, the paratexts that accompany this vital new edition are engrossing, lush, and revelatory.” —Seo Young Chu, CUNY Queens College
This Norton Critical Edition includes:
The 1896 William Heinemann edition of Wells’s novel—a cauldron of scientific ambition, interspecies conflict, and neocolonial violence—with a glossary of nautical, botanical, and geological terms.
A preface with a note on the text, contextualizing headnotes, and explanatory footnotes by Kimberly W. Benston.
Eight illustrations, including the 1896 frontispiece and artworks relating to the novel’s context.
An especially rich selection of contextual materials, topically organized: “Evolution: Theory, Society, Language, and Ethics”; “Race, Cannibalism, and Empire”; “Animality, Science, and the Vivisection Debate”; and “Wells on Evolution, Pain, Extinction, and Animal Mind.”
Fourteen critical interpretations, from reviews upon publication to current critical scholarship.
A chronology of Wells’s life and a selected bibliography.