The cover page is adapted from Wivenhoe Park, a painting completed in 1816 by John Constable. The cover and title pages feature the League Spartan and Sorts Mill Goudy typefaces created in 2014 and 2009 by The League of Moveable Type. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Constablewww.theleagueofmoveabletype.com/
Mr. Britling Sees It Through
Chapters (11)
- Book I: Matching’s Easy at Ease: I: Mr. Direck Visits Mr. Britling 0:00
- II: Mr. Britling Continues His Exposition 1:06:11
- III: The Entertainment of Mr. Direck Reaches a Climax 2:30:10
- IV: Mr. Britling in Soliloquy 3:19:26
- V: The Coming of the Day 4:18:51
- Book II: Matching’s Easy at War: I: Onlookers 6:30:04
- II: Taking Part 7:55:59
- III: Malignity 9:27:28
- IV: In the Web of the Ineffective 10:36:31
- Book III: The Testament of Matching’s Easy: I: Mrs. Teddy Goes for a Walk 13:20:03
- II: Mr. Britling Writes Until Sunrise 14:32:05
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Life at the writer Mr. Britling’s estate in the Essex countryside is idyllic. Guests arrive, games are played, and minor love affairs play out. During the early summer of 1914 Germany is discussed, but talk of war is dismissed as fanciful and less important than the situation happening at the same time in Ireland.
The outbreak of the war changes everything. Some of the men are sent off to fight, while the formerly beautiful countryside becomes a playground for the British troops, and German zeppelins attack the Essex coast. The mood alternates between euphoric and despondent. Friendships unravel, loved ones die, and society begins to fall apart as the incompetence and cruelty of the leaders on all sides becomes clear. Throughout it all Mr. Britling tries his best to understand the war. Surely it must have a purpose?
First published in 1916, when the cost of the war was becoming clear even if its outcome was still in doubt, Mr. Britling Sees it Through is H. G. Wells’s eulogy to a world destroyed. He uses the war as a way to explore ideas about religion, society, and humanity, as well as life and beauty.