Last Man

One of the first dystopian novels ever written, The Last Man traces the impact of an unstoppable pandemic as it slowly overtakes the world. Beginning in the year 2073, the story follows Lionel Vesey—the titular last man—and his circle of friends as the disease creeps from continent to continent and erodes the foundations of civilization.   Published in 1826, after the death of Shelley’s husband, her step-sister, and her two children, The Last Man is both an eerily prescient story about disaster and a moving fable about surviving personal grief.

One of the first dystopian novels ever written, The Last Man traces the path and impact of an unstoppable pandemic as it slowly overtakes the world. Beginning in the year 2073, the story follows Lionel Vesey—the titular last man—and his circle of friends as the disease creeps from continent to continent. At first, many refuse to believe that a truly global disaster is possible. War breaks out, further spreading disease. Storms flood coastal cities, and famine abounds. Opportunists and religious extremists use the chaos for personal gain and power.   Published in 1826, after the death of Shelley’s husband, her step-sister, and her two children, The Last Man is both an eerily prescient story about disaster and a moving fable about surviving personal grief. As Shelley observed in her diary entry of May 14, 1824: “The last man! Yes I may well describe that solitary being’s feelings, feeling myself as the last relic of a beloved race, my companions extinct before me.”