On The Beach

Remarkable books...I share a fierce personal regard for Nevil Shute

Richard Bach

Shute's most considerable achievement

Daily Telegraph

The most evocative novel on the aftermath of a nuclear war

The Times

Fictions such as On the Beach played an important role in raising awareness about the threat of nuclear war. We stared into the abyss and then stepped back from the brink

Guardian

Still incredibly moving after nearly half a century

Economist

Timely and ironic..an indelibly sad ending that leaves you tearful and disturbed

Los Angeles Times

On the Beach didn't offer a literal second chance at life. But, as a nuclear cloud drifted over to people in Australia, it did show how knowledge of the end can dislodge the truest of feelings from their hiding places and give them a second chance

Boston Globe

Haunting

Washington Post

A novel which, while aiming at popularity, respected its readership and was possessed of a decent level of craft

Philip Hensher, Spectator

this book by Nevil Shute, is one of the finest of the period. ... the drama comes from Shute's ability to capture how different people choose to come to the end of their lives, sometimes heroically, sometimes selfishly, but always gripping the reader's imagination and twisting the emotion. A taut, tightly written tale by an underrated, indeed largely forgotten writer."

Mail on Sunday

They don't write them like this anymore

SciFiNow