Ralph Burton is a miner who is trapped for several days as a result of a cave-in. When he finally manages to dig himself out, he realizes that all of mankind seems to have been destroyed in a nuclear holocaust. He travels to New York City only to find it deserted. Making a life for himself there, he is flabbergasted to eventually find Sarah Crandall, who also managed to survive. Together, they form a close friendship until the arrival of Benson Thacker who has managed to pilot his small boat into the citys harbor. At this point the tensions rise between the three, particularly between Thacker, who is white and Burton, who is black.
部分基于The Purple Cloud，让我很感兴趣，但没有着重在描述the last man如何成为城市废墟之中的国王，而是与孤独对抗的方式——追逐女人（白人），或者收藏、保存人类文明（黑人）。找到的newsreel是我最喜欢的部分：有选美比赛和卫星发射，最后地球转动的画面出现（新闻的结束，也是世界的）
