The Last Man

by Mary Shelley · 1826

The Last Man is an apocalyptic novel by Mary Shelley, first published in 1826. Set in the late twenty-first century, the story depicts the gradual extermination of the human race by a global pandemic. The narrative follows a circle of idealistic reformers, including characters modeled after Percy Bysshe Shelley and Lord Byron, as they confront war, anarchy, and the inevitable collapse of civilization. As the sole survivor of the plague, the narrator reflects on the failure of Romanticism, art, and human imagination to prevent the destruction of humanity. The work is considered a landmark in the human extinction genre and an early example of climate fiction.