What Happened to the Corbetts

Nevil Shute

Apr 2010 · Random House

About this ebook

Nevil Shute wrote this prophetic novel just before the start of the Second World War. In it he describes the devastation that results from an aerial bomb attack on Southampton that destroys the city's infrastructure and leaves the inhabitants at the mercy of cholera and further assaults. The story follows the trials and tribulations of the Corbett family as they try to get to safety.

Ratings and reviews

This is the shortest Nevil Shute novel I have read so far, but was amazed at how much action he could pack into a mere 168 pages! His narration of the deteriorating condition of the war torn countryside and the feelings of the affected people brings home the senselessness of war and the havoc that it wreaks on mankind. Truly a masterpiece from a master storyteller.

About the author

Nevil Shute was born on 17 January 1899 in Ealing, London. After attending the Dragon School and Shrewsbury School, he studied Engineering Science at Balliol College, Oxford. He worked as an aeronautical engineer and published his first novel, Marazan, in 1926. In 1931 he married Frances Mary Heaton and they went on to have two daughters. During the Second World War he joined the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve where he worked on developing secret weapons. After the war he continued to write and settled in Australia where he lived until his death on 12 January 1960. His most celebrated novels include Pied Piper (1942), No Highway (1948), A Town Like Alice (1950) and On the Beach (1957).