"It's not the end of the world at all," he said. "It's only the end for us. The world will go on just the same, only we shan't be in it. I dare say it will get along all right without us."


On the Beach details the experiences of a mixed group of people in Melbourne, Australia as they await the arrival of deadly radiation spreading towards them from the Northern Hemisphere, following a nuclear war a year previously. As the radiation approaches, each person deals with their impending death differently.

Okay, this was rather dated but the story of course is still very relevant in today's world.

But the way it's dealt with here is similar to other Cold War era novels of similar subjects.

This particular book was playing on the fear of nuclear war and how terrible radiation fallout/sickness is.

I guess I went into this with my expectations too high, I think Nevil Shute is a great writer but this one wasn't as great as I thought it would be but still gets three stars.

I didn't like the ending and the hopelessness of it.