The war in the air

Imagine a regular guy named Bert who fixes bikes in England. One day, he accidentally ends up on giant flying ships from Germany that attack America, bombing big cities like New York to bits. The war gets super crazy with more countries fighting in the sky, destroying everything, and Bert has to survive the end of the world while everything falls apart—no more planes or cities, just chaos and hungry people running around.

H.G. Wells' 'The War in the Air' (1908) follows Bert Smallways, an unassuming English bicycle mechanic from the suburban village of Bundrick, who inadvertently becomes entangled in global catastrophe. While seeking respite from personal troubles, Bert discovers the secret hideout of reclusive inventor Alfred Butteridge, whose revolutionary flying machine holds the key to aerial supremacy. Captured aboard the massive German airship 'Vaterland' as part of Prince Karl Albert's invasion fleet, Bert witnesses the dawn of total air war as the armada launches a devastating surprise attack on New York City, bombarding it into ruins and igniting chaos across the Atlantic world. As the conflict escalates, American resistance crumbles under the onslaught of dreadnought airships and monoplanes, but retaliation comes from an unexpected Asian coalition deploying their own air forces, leading to mutual destruction and the collapse of modern civilization. Wells paints a vivid portrait of societal disintegration—famine, anarchy, disease, and barbarism engulfing nations—while Bert struggles for survival amid the wreckage, eventually returning to a transformed England. The novel serves as a prescient warning of technology's double-edged sword, blending adventure with apocalyptic realism to critique imperial hubris and the fragility of progress.