An SF Gateway eBook: bringing the classics to the future.
"The King Who Was a King - The Book of a Film" is a fascinating treatise on the development of film written by H. G. Wells and first published in 1929. Writing at the when cinema was beginning to explode, Wells explores the emerging industry's history, future, and the elements of contemporary film.
H.G. Wells was born in Bromley, Kent in 1866. After working as a draper's apprentice and pupil-teacher, he won a scholarship to the Normal School of Science in 1884, studying under T. H. Huxley. He was awarded a first-class honours degree in biology and resumed teaching but had to retire after a kick from an ill-natured pupil afflicted his kidneys. He worked in poverty in London as a crammer while experimenting in journalism and stories. It was with THE TIME MACHINE (1895) that he had his real breakthrough.