A Norton Critical Edition

“This is an invaluable edition of The Last Man, a novel that tackles concerns of supreme urgency in our time. This book offers an introduction, contemporary texts, and critical readings that reframe the novel for our moment, enabling readers to find in this story of the end of our familiar world a seemingly impossible hope for another, less oppressive world to come.” —David Collings, Bowdoin College

“Mary Shelley’s The Last Man, in many ways as prescient as Shelley’s first novel and one of the first great works of dystopian fiction, has warranted a Norton edition for some time. In Washington’s hands we finally have it. Thoroughly annotated and scrupulously situating Shelley’s third novel within its both historical and contemporary cultural and critical contexts, this fine edition sets a high bar for the future study of Shelley’s writing. Washington has given us an invaluable resource and guide for academic readers, from undergraduates to senior scholars, but also an excellent primer for nonacademic audiences.” —Joel Faflak, Western University, Canada