On the Beach is a post-apocalyptic, end-of-the-world novel written by author Nevil Shute and it was published in 1957.
The book takes its name from the T. S. Eliot poem The Hollow Men, Some editions include extracts from the poem, which includes the lines:
"Gathered on this beach of the tumid river. . .
. . .This is the way the world ends - Not with a bang but a whimper."