He was the intellectual leader of the Fabians, an educated group of British socialists at the turn of the 20th century who advocated socialism as the incursion of democracy into the economic realm rather than central planning, and were a major force in the democratization of the socialist movement leading up to the Kautsky/Lenin split and the establishment of a firm line between communist socialism and social democracy. Point of cultural irony - War of the Worlds was originally intended to inspire empathy in British citizens for people in their colonies - sort of a "how would you feel?" allegory. Unfortunately, it was turned around into cold war themes when it was brought to moviehouses and television.
