This is a story of a man who creates a machine that allows the rider to travel through all time: the fourth dimension. His first jaunt lands him 800,000 years into the future where he discovers a utopian society. However, he soon discovers that this heavenly future conceals a hidden "barbaric and depraved underclass".

Written in 1895, The Time Machine by H.G. Wells became an instant bestseller and was seen as a critique on the disparities fostered by Victorian consumer culture and the injustices of the class system.

Wells was born in Bromley Kent, to a one-time professional cricketer and housemaid. His mother worked at the estate in Uppark and Wells is said to have developed his early love of literature during secret reading sessions in the House's extensive library. He worked as a teacher at Midhurst Grammar School and studied briefly under T.H. Huxley.

The Time Machine was his debut novel, and it was followed by such genre-defining works as The Island of Dr Moreau (1892), The Invisible Man (1897), The War Of The Worlds (1898)

You can get the complete text of the book chapter by chapter in HTML format from literature.org or Bartleby.com.

Some good biographical information on Wells - plus links to just about everything he's written - are available at Online-Literature.com.