Cover of The Wheels of Chance
Time TravelHistorical Fiction

The Wheels of Chance

by

  • 1896 first published
  • 226 pages
  • 97 editions
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H. G. Wells's The Wheels of Chance (1896) is a time-travel fiction and historical fiction novel. It deals with Cycling, time travel, income tax and law and legislation.

18 Open Library readers have it on their want-to-read list. It has been published in 97 editions.

At about 226 pages, most readers finish it in 4–5 hours.

About The Wheels of Chance

The comical Wheels of Chance was written in 1896 at the height of the golden age of the bicycle, when practical and affordable bicycles led to profound social shifts in England. Suddenly people of modest means could travel greater distances for work or even for pleasure, without the limitations of rail schedules, weakening England's rigid class structure and strengthening the movement towards the liberation of women. In the novel, the poorly-paid draper's assistant Mr. Hoopdriver sets out on a cycling holiday, and awkwardly encounters a pretty young woman cycling alone and wearing bloomers, an shocking image in its time and one that summed up the new freedom, liberation and exhilaration of the bicycle.
Description from Open Library

Themes, setting & tropes

Genres

Subjects

  • Cycling
  • Time travel
  • Classic Literature
  • Income tax
  • Law and legislation
  • Historical
  • British and irish fiction, Fictional works by one author
  • Humorous
  • England
  • Bicycle touring
  • Cyclotourisme
  • Romans, nouvelles

Quick answers

Who wrote The Wheels of Chance?

The Wheels of Chance was written by H. G. Wells and first published in 1896.

What genre is The Wheels of Chance?

It is usually shelved as Time Travel and Historical Fiction.

How long is The Wheels of Chance?

The median edition has 226 pages, about 4–5 hours of reading at 250 words per minute.

What books are similar to The Wheels of Chance?

Readers who like it often enjoy A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, Anthem and Life on the Mississippi.

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