On the Beach

Nevil Shute’s novel On the Beach was published in 1957. It tells the story of a group of people living in Melbourne, Australia, who face the end of the world after a nuclear war destroys the entire Northern Hemisphere. As they wait for the radioactive fallout to reach them, the characters must deal with the fact that their days on Earth are numbered. The story was initially published in four parts under the title The Last Days on Earth in Sunday Graphic. The novel sold over 4 million copies and was one of the first to address the topic of nuclear apocalypse. The 1959 film adaptation, directed by Stanley Kramer, starred Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner, Fred Astaire, and Anthony Perkins. It was the first film to depict nuclear war and was shown in the USSR. The 2000 television version had a modern setting, while the BBC produced a full-cast performance in 2008.

This guide is based on the 2019 Reading Essentials e-book edition.

Content Warning: The source material contains depictions of death by euthanasia in adults and children, which this guide describes.

Plot Summary

In December 1962, after a 37-day-long nuclear war that destroyed the Northern Hemisphere, the rest of the world waits for the end of the world as the wind carries the radioactive fallout into the Southern Hemisphere, and each country succumbs to the poison.