This is the ''Penguin English Library Edition'' of ''The War of the Worlds'' by H. G. Wells. 'Death!' I shouted. 'Death is coming! Death!' In this pioneering, shocking and nightmarish tale, naive suburban Londoners investigate a strange cylinder from space, but are instantly incinerated by an all-destroying heat-ray. Soon, gigantic killing machines that chase and feed on human prey are threatening the whole of humanity. A pioneering work of alien invasion fiction, ''The War of the World's'' journalistic style contrasts disturbingly with its horrifying visions of the human race under siege. ''The Penguin English Library'' - 100 editions of the best fiction in English, from the eighteenth century and the very first novels to the beginning of the First World War.