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I have to say it was a joy to go back and read another book by Wells. I just love the way that he writes. There is just something about his style that I find immensely appealing. In this book Wells looks at the problems of education and how education affects how people are able to think and how this affects the country as a whole. Here he blames the inability to govern the British Empire down to the fact that people are so poorly educated. Wells tackles Christian and classical ideas on education and children.
But this is more than simply a book of ideas. I found that I also greatly enjoyed the characterisation and that there were some genuinely dramatic moments. Peter’s mother swimming to the shore when her boat capsized was rather heart wrenching, as are the effects of the War on Peter and Joan. The book starts in late Victorian England and ends shortly after the first world war. It covers the transition between the end of the Victorian era, and the aimlessness of the next generation very well. The main characters grow up with the best education that can be found in England at the time, which is freely admitted to be not very good. They grow up and deal with love, decadence and the reality of war in a very meaningful way. I greatly enjoyed this book. It’s not one of Wells’ better-known works but I’m very glad to have found it in the charity shop. I thought it was highly enjoyable as well as very insightful.
But this is more than simply a book of ideas. I found that I also greatly enjoyed the characterisation and that there were some genuinely dramatic moments. Peter’s mother swimming to the shore when her boat capsized was rather heart wrenching, as are the effects of the War on Peter and Joan. The book starts in late Victorian England and ends shortly after the first world war. It covers the transition between the end of the Victorian era, and the aimlessness of the next generation very well. The main characters grow up with the best education that can be found in England at the time, which is freely admitted to be not very good. They grow up and deal with love, decadence and the reality of war in a very meaningful way. I greatly enjoyed this book. It’s not one of Wells’ better-known works but I’m very glad to have found it in the charity shop. I thought it was highly enjoyable as well as very insightful.