The blurb claims that Wells was "one of the intellectual giants of his time," a claim which scarcely stands up any more. How many people are genuinely influenced by his writings and ideas today, and how many of his books are in print? However, the English Left is rather short of thinkers on a European level, and Wells has always been one of its gods, feet of clay or no. Michael Foot knew him personally in his own youth and stands up for him eloquently both as a writer and a thinker, as well as liking Wells as a man. The long, difficult relationship with Rebecca West is traced sympathetically, and Foot angrily defends Wells against any imputations of Fascism (he was, it seems, one of the first to denounce Mussolini). His biography may herald some sort of Wellsian revival, though I rather doubt it.