The Martians came suddenly. Before the British had a chance to learn that they were in danger, many had already been killed and even more had become refugees. 
 I really enjoyed this book! 
 In particular, I loved the juxtaposition between the "proper English gentleman" and the gritty realness of the events (the blood, the murder, the feral dogs eating corpses..). There was also a good bit of social commentary, a discussion of evolution, and more. 
 The writing style is very accessible. Really, it could have been written yesterday if heat rays were replaced with lasers. 
 I really can't recommend this enough. It's definitely been one of the most enjoyable "classic sci-fi" books I've read!