Hugo and Nebula Award winner Brian Aldiss was among the most distinguished British science fiction writers of recent decades. Named an SFWA Grand Master and inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame, he was also the recipient of the OBE for services to literature.

Since "the Accident," when nuclear weapons were exploded in orbit, mankind has been sterile, in this chillingly believable 1964 novel. Over five decades, no children have been born, civilization has crumbled, and the increasingly elderly survivors live as best they can in scattered enclaves while nature overwhelms the cities and roads. Hoping for something better, 50-ish Algy Timberlane—Greybeard—and his wife Martha embark on a boat trip down the Thames to the sea, journeying through the strange new landscape and encountering extraordinary communities and people.