Nevil Shute Norway, who wrote under the name Nevil Shute, is not much studied in literature courses, nor are there many articles and books about him; but his annual income from royalties was extensive, and most of his twenty-four books are still in print. He was a novelist whose work as an engineer informed his narratives, and some of his books include science-fiction elements--including his best-known novel, the nuclear holocaust tale On the Beach (1957).

If Shute's novels are considered escapist, one must note that none of his characters escape responsibility. In fact, responsibility is a major theme in Shute, one of the things that appeals to readers.

Nevil Shute Norway was born on 17 January 1899 to Arthur Hamilton Norway and Mary Louisa (Gadsden) Norway in Ealing, west of London. He reported in Slide Rule: The Autobiography of an Engineer (1954) that what he wanted most as a boy was to...