The First Men in the Moon

The story

A bankrupt businessman, Bedford, meets an eccentric scientist, Cavor, who has invented Cavorite — a substance that blocks gravity. Together they build a sphere and fly to the Moon.

Beneath the lunar surface they find the Selenites, an insect-like civilisation in which every individual is shaped for a single job. Bedford sees gold; Cavor sees knowledge. Only one of them will come home.

Themes: science and ambition, colonialism, alien societies, human greed.

Why it's a good book for language learners

Wells mixes adventure with long passages of description and reflection, so this is a good step up for upper-intermediate readers. The vocabulary of science is surprisingly modern, and the contrast between Bedford's greed and Cavor's curiosity gives you plenty to discuss or write about.

What you'll practise

• Scientific and technical vocabulary
• Hypotheticals: if/would/might
• Long sentences with several clauses
• Describing unfamiliar places

Did you know?

The novel was serialised in The Strand Magazine — the same magazine that published Sherlock Holmes — in 1900–1901.

The PageWalker adventure

In the adventure you choose between Bedford's caution and Cavor's curiosity on the lunar surface. The first page is free to play in your browser, and the adventure is available in 13 languages with click-to-translate.

The First Men in the Moon in other languages

• EnglishThe First Men in the Moon
• العربيةأول رجال على القمر
• DeutschDie ersten Menschen auf dem Mond
• EspañolLos Primeros Hombres en la Luna
• FrançaisLes Premiers Hommes dans la Lune
• हिन्दीद फर्स्ट मेन इन द मून
• ItalianoI primi uomini sulla Luna
• 日本語月世界最初の人間
• 한국어달에 간 최초의 인간
• PortuguêsOs Primeiros Homens na Lua
• РусскийПервые люди на Луне
• TürkçeAydaki İlk İnsanlar
• 简体中文月球上的第一批人