Lord of the Flies

First published in 1954, this novel follows a group of British schoolboys stranded on a tropical island after their evacuation plane is shot down. Ralph is elected leader and, with the asthmatic Piggy, tries to keep a signal fire and a conch-rule assembly. Jack, head of the choir, turns the hunters toward meat, painted faces, and a ritual fear of a beast. Simon wanders inland toward a rotting airman's body and a pig's head on a stick. The book is an allegory of political order collapsing into hunting and sacrifice, not a realistic survival manual.

Bound in red cloth cover blocked with a wrap-around black and silver image. Black slipcase. Red endpapers.