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Structure
Interesting Questions, Facts and Information
- There are a total of 20 general entries.
Special Topics
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 Interesting Questions, Facts, and Information
 Shute, Nevil
Scorpion. Commander Towers was the Captain of the Scorpion,the last nuclear powered warship.The ship was on patrol near Midway when the war started.As Scorpion was a submarine the crew were able to avoid the nuclear strikes and escape the effects of the radiation, for a time.
Ferrari. As there was seemingly no point to many of the drivers surviving the race only to die days later of radiation sickness they drove hell for leather.The result being that only three drivers finished the race and most of the others were either dead or in hospital.
| The final option for many people in Australia came down to "how sick do you want to be before its time to die"? The government made arrangments to end peoples suffering by making what available? | Nevil Shutes` "On The Beach"
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Cyanide Pills. The cyanide pills came in a small red box with two pills to a box,they were handed out about a week before the radiation hit the locale.
Tasmania. Many people had come down the coastline to try and escape death for a few days,but few chose to cross Bass Strait and spend their last days in Tasmania.
| Commander Towers spent some time buying presents for various people. What was he trying to buy for his dead ten year old daughter? | Nevil Shutes` "On The Beach"
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Pogo Stick. Whilst it was totally beyond the realms of possibility that anyone was alive in the United States the Commander went about his life as if his wife and children were still alive.
| The radiation was caused by the bombs used by Russia and China. What was used in the bombs that made them so poisonous? | Nevil Shutes` "On The Beach"
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Cobalt. The "dirty bombs" used were so deadly that every living creature on the face of the earth was wiped out.
| Lieutenant-Commander Holmes was speaking with a chemist about what he could expect when he gets sick. What was the first sign of radiation sickness according to the chemist? | Nevil Shutes` "On The Beach"
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Nausea. There was no cure all that lived were to die,though some may have slightly recovered from the major effects it was only for a short time.
Jennifer. It was decided by most parents that to avoid prolonged suffering of their children in the event that the babies get sick after their parents that the babies should be given their cyanide pills first.
| What was the name of the young American that jumped ship while the submarine was observing what had happened in the States? | Nevil Shutes` "On The Beach"
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Swain. Yeoman Swain chose to spend his last days in his home town fishing and in familiar surroundings. He had a gun with him for when he was too sick.
Slide Rule. Daresay Nevil used a slide rule rather often! His work in the new field (at the time) of commercial aviation and that of airship engineering involved many thousands of hours of calculating work.
Marazan. Published in 1926, "Marazan" was Shute's third literary effort. Interestingly, his first two fictional projects, rejected by publishers in 1923/24, were published as one volume, "Stephen Morris", after Shute's death in 1960. "Landfall" and "Pied Piper" are two more titles written by Shute.
"So Disdained" and "Lonely Road". These books were written in the time that Shute was heavily involved in his firm's (Vickers Ltd) competition with the British Government's Air Ministry over building a commercially viable airship and flying a cargo overseas. Vicker's airship, named R100, flew off to Canada on July 29, 1930 (with Shute on board as part of 50-strong crew) and returned on August 16, spending about 130 hours actually flying. The Air Ministry airship, R101, beset with political interference, embarked for India on October 4 and crashed near Beauvais, France some seven hours after takeoff. Of fifty four persons on board, there were just six survivors. One wonders, with reading Shute's autobiography, just how he ever found the time to write! The other titles in the question are all written by Shute.
| In 1936, Shute's publishers sold the film rights for this novel to Ealing Studios, and a film was made based on the book, starring Clive Brook and Victoria Hopper. Which title was this? | Nevil Shute - Great Author!
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Lonely Road. The film was released in the U.S. as "Scotland Yard Commands" in 1936. Film rights to "Ruined City" were sold in 1937. The other two titles were also written by Shute.
| The novel "Ruined City" sees the hero of the story, Henry Warren, take control of a derelict shipyard in a (fictional) run-down town and attempt to build it into a thriving business again. By way of shady overseas business deals, ruining his own reputation in banking, and even serving time in jail, he actually succeeds! What was it though that brought Warren to Sharples in the first place? | Nevil Shute - Great Author!
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He was on a walking holiday.. True! He'd had his driver take him three hundred miles (close to 500km) from London and arranged to meet him the following week further north. He started feeling ill on the second day of his walk, and managed to hitch a ride to Sharples in a lorry. After the operation, his recuperation and recovery time in Sharples changed his entire outlook on life and he resolved to try to do something to help this town which had helped him. I like this novel very much - a "big business" person actually going out of his way to help the "down and out". This novel was also published under the title "Kindling".
| This novel, written in 1938, was published five months before the outbreak of World War Two. There was much activity at the time regarding predictions of another war, and so many possibilities of civilian casualties by way of bombing and gassing. This novel is a story of what certainly could have happened in a coastal town under attack. What is the title? | Nevil Shute - Great Author!
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What Happened To The Corbetts. Shute was correct in his thoughts that gas would not be used in such attacks, but he overlooked the catastrophic consequences of fire. Indeed the publishers thought it a good idea to distribute a thousand copies free of charge to people concerned with Air Raid Precautions, on publication rather than as remainders. Shute applauded this move as the novel also drew attention to the possibility of disease. A highly prophetic work!
| After leaving Airspeed Ltd in 1938, Nevil Shute and his wife went on a holiday in France, making a random choice of St Claude in the Jura mountains. This area inspired him to base the start of another book there, and this was published in 1942. What was this book titled? | Nevil Shute - Great Author!
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Pied Piper. The other titles are all written by Shute. The random selection was simply a closed-eye stab with a pin on the map!
| Shute travelled to Australia in 1948 to start research for a novel which was published in 1957. Which novel? | Nevil Shute - Great Author!
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On The Beach. "On the Beach" became a movie in 1959, starring Ava Gardner and Gregory Peck. The other titles in the question are all Shute titles, all centred in Australia. Shute did emigrate to Australia around 1950.
| The novel "Most Secret" has a central plot around the Brittany coast. A action-packed book, the use of a flamethrower and accelerant fired from a converted fishing boat onto an enemy ship in harbour makes for a most exciting read. What is the correct spelling of the nearest coastal town where this particular written action happened? | Nevil Shute - Great Author!
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Douarnenez. 'Brest' is correctly spelled, but not the answer! I would rate "Most Secret" as my favourite Shute publication. It seems so real!
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