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causing massive famine; the virus is also revealed to be found in the UK but because of its selectivity does not affect the country's agriculture. After the introduction of a new pesticide, developed in preference to breeding resistant crops, a mutated virus appears and infects the staple crops of
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Before reaching the valley, John takes in a large group of peaceful survivors. The group later survives encounters with a violent biker gang and soldiers attacking a farmhouse. After arriving at the valley, they find that John's brother is unable to let them all in to the heavily defended valley.
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major cities, alerts
Custance to evacuate. Picking up a travelling companion, a gun shop owner named Pirrie, after an attempt to procure arms, they find that they must sacrifice many of the aspects of the morality they held before the famine in order to stay alive. At one point, when their food
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The novel follows the struggles of engineer John
Custance and his friend, civil servant Roger Buckley, as, along with their families, they make their way across an England which is rapidly descending into
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Pirrie prevents John from taking only his immediate family into the valley; instead, the group takes the valley by force. Pirrie and John's brother are killed; John takes possession of the valley.
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provoked considerable reaction amongst its readers on account of its portrayal of government's response to the unfolding worldwide crisis. The film rights were sold to
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was the first of several post-apocalyptic novels written by Youd. The novel was written in a matter of weeks and liberated him from his day job.
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A dramatised version was broadcast on BBC radio in 1957. Another adaptation for the BBC World
Service was broadcast in 1986.
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supply runs out, they kill a family to take their bread, John justifying it with the belief that "it was them or us."
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science fiction season, the station broadcast a drama in five episodes, based on the novel and narrated by
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384:"BBCWS+RA.cc: John Christopher's The Death Of Grass RADIO DRAMA (1986) – SFFaudio"
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and the
Americas attempt to impose rigorous quarantine to keep the virus out.
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valley. Buckley, having advance warning of the government's plot to
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19:"No Blade of Grass" redirects here. For the film adaptation, see
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358:"The Death of Grass - BBC Home Service Basic, 29 April 1957"
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West Asia and Europe such as wheat and barley—all of the
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406:"Woman's Hour Drama - The Death of Grass"
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170:John Christopher. The plot concerns a
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329:Robert Macfarlane, "Introduction" in
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276:(1970), was produced and directed by
162:novel written by the English author
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814:Works published under a pseudonym
346:John Christopher's life and works
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819:Novels about viral outbreaks
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789:1956 science fiction novels
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622:A Scent of White Poppies
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761:The Tripods (TV series)
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283:In 2009, as part of a
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598:The Year of the Comet
516:The Prince in Waiting
492:When the Tripods Came
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505:Sword of the Spirits
408:. BBC. 2 March 2009.
784:1956 British novels
638:The World in Winter
468:The White Mountains
270:A film adaptation,
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29:The Death Of Grass
804:Books about famine
614:The Caves of Night
606:The Death of Grass
362:BBC Genome Project
333:The Death of Grass
295:In popular culture
180:The Death of Grass
149:The Death of Grass
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364:. 29 April 1957
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718:Empty World
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457:The Tripods
309:(played by
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263:Adaptations
248:Westmorland
236:Australasia
778:Categories
702:Dom and Va
390:20 October
335:. Penguin.
317:References
166:under the
152:(US title
734:Bad Dream
710:Wild Jack
446:Books by
232:Old World
223:East Asia
117:Hardcover
99:1956 (UK)
84:Publisher
678:Pendulum
555:Fireball
545:Fireball
234:, while
168:pen name
164:Sam Youd
66:Language
547:trilogy
508:trilogy
368:26 July
244:anarchy
228:grasses
140:2160136
115:Print (
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370:2017
302:Feud
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
