A brilliant, early dystopian tale of classic science fiction. ‘The Last Man’ is a powerful, post-apocalyptic tale and precurser to the much later science fiction novels of H.G. Wells, George Orwell, Phillip K. Dick and Harlan Ellison amongst others. Overshadowed by the titanic success of ‘Frankenstein’, Mary Shelley’s neglected masterpiece tells of a future laid waste by plague. Lionel Varney, an indolent nobleman, is immune to the savage effects of the disease having been bitten by an early victim. Varney is forced to watch the long decline of civilisation as humanity sinks slowly into extinction.
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