Ready Reference Treatise: On the Beach

By Raja Sharma

“On the Beach” by Nevil Shute was first published in 1957. It is a post-apocalyptic novel. The author had moved to Australia from Britain before writing the present novel.

The story is about an impending disaster after a nuclear war that happens to have taken place one year before. It describes the experiences of a group of people in Melbourne who are awaiting the arrival of fatal radiation that has been spreading towards them from the northern hemisphere.

Ready Reference Treatise: On the Beach
Copyright
Chapter One: Introduction
Chapter Two: Plot Overview
Chapter Three: Major Characters
Chapter Four: Complete Summary
Chapter Five: Critical Analysis

• Language: English
• Publisher: Raja Sharma
• Release date: Nov 28, 2015
• ISBN: 9781311128584

Raja Sharma

Raja Sharma is a retired college lecturer.He has taught English Literature to University students for more than two decades.His students are scattered all over the world, and it is noticeable that he is in contact with more than ninety thousand of his students.

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Ready Reference Treatise: On the Beach

Copyright

Ready Reference Treatise: On the Beach

Raja Sharma

Copyright@2015 Raja Sharma

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Chapter One: Introduction

On the Beach by Nevil Shute was first published in 1957. It is a post-apocalyptic novel. The author had moved to Australia from Britain before writing the present novel.

The story is about an impending disaster after a nuclear war that happens to have taken place one year before. It describes the experiences of a group of people in Melbourne who are awaiting the arrival of fatal radiation that has been spreading towards them from the northern hemisphere.

The story describes how each individual deals with his or her impending death after the approach of the radiation.

The novel was initially published as a four-part series titled The Last Days on Earth in the London weekly periodical ‘Sunday Graphic’ in April 1957. After the publication of this series, the author expanded on the storyline and completed the novel.

On the Beach has been adapted twice as a film, in 1959 and 2000. It was also adapted as a BBC radio broadcast in 2008.

While the book was bring written, the Cold War was going on. There was high tension between the United States and the Soviet Union. The threat of a nuclear war seemed to be quite real.

The book was very well received and there were highly positive reviews. It instantly became a bestseller. Those who praised the book included theologians, pacifists, philosophers, political scientists, and environmentalists.

After two years of the book’s publication, the book was made into a major motion picture in the year 1959. The movie was directed by Stanley Kramer. Gregory Peck and Ava Gardner were the leading stars in the film. It was the first full-length American movie that premiered first in the Soviet Union.

Chapter Two: Plot Overview

The major part of the story is set in and around Melbourne, Australia. The year is 1963. Most of the populated world has been devastated because of the Third World War. The atmosphere is extremely polluted with nuclear fallout. The human and animal life has been eliminated in the Northern hemisphere.

The Third World War started after Albania had attacked Italy. The war continued to escalate when the United States and the United Kingdom were bombed by Egypt.

The aircraft that were used in these attacks had been obtained from the Soviet Union, so the Soviets were unjustly blamed for the attacks.

Following these attacks, there was a retaliatory strike on the Soviet Union by NATO. The Soviets attacked the People’s Republic of China.

It was the response to a Chinese attack at Soviet Union in an attempt to occupy Soviet Industrial areas near the Chinese borders.

Most of the bombs used in the attacks mentioned above had cobalt in them to increase their radioactive properties.

The narrative brings us