That's it. Why do we scare ourselves with the end of the world?

The world is on the brink of collapse: plague claims millions of lives, the sun scorches crops, wars break out here and there, and people seem to have lost their remaining sanity. Are you ready for the end of the... world?? We have been prepared for it throughout history, and this has all been in books and films, claims Adam Roberts – a literature lecturer at Royal Holloway, University of London, a writer whom critics call the best contemporary science fiction author, and a historian of the genre. "That's it."?— is a brilliant analysis of our perceptions of humanity's demise, reflecting the state of society, the psychology of individuals and masses, their cherished hopes and fears. Why are zombies us? What can "The Matrix" say about epidemics? Who was the first "last man" on Earth? Roberts cleverly shows how science fiction and reality influence each other, analyzes possible scenarios of Armageddon, and provides convincing arguments for why it is worth delaying a little.