Lord of the Flies

William Golding was born in Cornwall in 1911 and educated at Oxford. Before he became a schoolmaster he was an actor, lecturer, small-boat sailor and musician. In 1940 he joined the Royal Navy and was present at the sinking of the Bismarck, becoming a Lieutenant in command of a rocket ship. After the war he taught in Salisbury. His celebrated debut novel, Lord of the Flies, was published in 1954 (later filmed by Peter Brook). He won the Booker Prize for Rites of Passage in 1980, and was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1983, before being knighted in 1988. He died in 1993.William Golding's Lord of the Flies is a dystopian classic: 'exciting, relevant and thought-provoking' (Stephen King). When a group of schoolboys are stranded on a desert island, what could go wrong?

'One of my favorite books - I read it every couple of years.' (Suzanne Collins, author of The Hunger Games)

A plane crashes on a desert island. The only survivors are a group of schoolboys. By day, they discover fantastic wildlife and dazzling beaches, learning to survive; at night, they are haunted by nightmares of a primitive beast. Orphaned by society, it isn't long before their innocent childhood games devolve into a savage, murderous hunt ...

'Stands out mightily in my memory ... Such a strong statement about the human heart.' (Patricia Cornwell)

'Terrifying and haunting.' (Kingsley Amis)

'Beautifully written, tragic and provocative.' (E. M. Forster)

ONE OF THE BBC'S ICONIC 'NOVELS THAT SHAPED OUR WORLD'

What readers are saying:

'Every real human being should read this ... This is what we are.'

'It's brilliant, it's captivating, it's thought provoking and brutal and for some, its truly terrifying.'

'It can be read and re-read many times, and every time something new will appear.'

'There is a reason why this is studied at school ... Excellent read.'

'This is one of the few books I've read that I keep on my Kindle to read again.'

'I revisit this every few years and it's always fresh and impressive ... One of the best books I've ever read.'William Golding's Lord of the Flies is a dystopian classic: 'exciting, relevant and thought-provoking' (Stephen King). When a group of schoolboys are stranded on a desert island, what could go wrong?