The Shape of Things to Come is a work of science fiction by H. G. Wells, published in 1933, which speculates on future events from 1933 until the year 2106. In the book, a world state is established as the solution to humanity's problems.
As a frame story, Wells claims that the book is his edited version of notes written by an eminent diplomat, Dr Philip Raven, who had been having dream visions of a history textbook published in 2106 and wrote down what he could remember of it. It is split into five separate sections or "books":

    Today And Tomorrow: The Age of Frustration Dawns – The history of the world up to 1933.
    The Days After Tomorrow: The Age of Frustration – 1933–1960.
    The World Renaissance: The Birth of the Modern State – 1960–1978.
    The Modern State Militant – 1978–2059.
    The Modern State in Control of Life – 2059 to New Year's Day 2106.

The Shape of Things to Come was written as a future history. Seen in retrospect, it can be considered as an alternative history, diverging from reality in late 1933 or early 1934, the point of divergence being US President Franklin D. Roosevelt's failure to implement the New Deal and revive the US economy and Adolf Hitler's failure to revive the German economy by rearmament. Instead, the worldwide economic crisis continues for thirty years, concurrently with the war, as described above.

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