People & Places
Woking was and is an affluent suburb to the south west of London. The Capital is easily reached by train and so it is popular with commuters (like Henderson the journalist, for example).
The railway line takes you to Waterloo Station - where the narrator’s brother twice attempts to get a train to Woking (on the Saturday and Sunday).
All the places mentioned were familiar to the author who lived on Maybury Hill.
The early action all takes place in Surrey, a very prosperous county (then and now) that includes suburbs of London (like Richmond and Twickenham).
The narrator also lives on Maybury Hill When the fighting starts, he takes his wife to Leatherhead (about eleven miles away).
London
London is the most important city in the world at this time, though increasingly challenged by New York. Much critical attention has been given to the symbolism of the imperial capital - falling to the ‘alien’ forces. Wells alludes to this analogy but the link with colonialism can be overplayed.
The War of the Words is first and foremost a gripping adventure story.
Horsell Common 