On the Beach

Set in Melbourne following a catastrophic war in the northern hemisphere, Nevil Shute's classic is the story of a handful of survivors in the terrifying aftermath of nuclear apocalypse. First published in 1957 - and famously adapted for the screen soon after by Stanley Kramer, in a film starring Gregory Peck and Ava Gardner - On the Beach is perhaps the greatest work of popular fiction about the end of the world.