The Timely Demise of Mr. Apocalypse

On the Beach is an apocalyptic novel published in 1957, written by British author Nevil Shute after he immigrated to Australia. The novel details the experiences of a mixed group of people in Melbourne as they await the arrival of deadly radiation spreading towards them from the Northern Hemisphere, following a nuclear war some years previously. As the radiation approaches, each person deals with impending death differently. Shute's initial story was published as a four-part series, The Last Days on Earth, in the London weekly periodical Sunday Graphic, in April 1957. For the novel, Shute expanded the storyline. The story has been adapted twice as a film (in 1959 and 2000) and once as a BBC Radio broadcast in 2008.