After the Flood

"After the Flood" ( _sv. Efter floden) is a 1982 novel by the Swedish novelist P.C. Jersild. It was well received as it played into the contemporary fear of nuclear holocaust that was fuelled by the aggressive politics of the Reagan Administration. P.C. Jersild was an active anti-nuclear campaigner as part of the Nobel Prize-winning NGO, International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War.

Plot summary

Jersild used his medical knowledge of the long term effects of a nuclear holocaust to great effect in this novel, which relates the adventures of a young man dumped on the island of Gotland some 30 years after a worldwide nuclear catastrophe. Humanity is about to go out with a whimper. The only inhabitants of the island are a band of aging convicts and a handful of religious women, also advanced in years, plus a few hermits. The economy is reduced to barter and plunder and the only medical care is provided by an ex baseball player, who becomes the reluctant mentor of the protagonist. A ray of hope is introduced in the story with the arrival of a young Finnish woman, but it all ends in misery.