# Survival and Catastrophe in Nordenholt’s Million

> Theme guide for Nordenholt’s Million by J. J. Connington.

The book explores humanity's struggle for survival following a global ecological disaster caused by a blight that destroys plant life, forcing a small group to create a fortified Nitrogen Area to sustain civilization.

## Where it surfaces

- [Nordenholt's Million](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/nordenholt_s_million_se/chapters/nordenholt-s-million): The blight threatens global civilization, forcing extreme measures for survival.
- [I: Genesis](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/nordenholt_s_million_se/chapters/i-genesis): Wotherspoon warns that a change in bacterial balance could lead to food shortages, and the fireball incident directly triggers the coming disaster.
- [II: The Coming of "The Blight"](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/nordenholt_s_million_se/chapters/ii-the-coming-of-the-blight): The blight represents an unexplained natural catastrophe that threatens vegetation and crops, foreshadowing a larger crisis.
- [III: B. Diazotans](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/nordenholt_s_million_se/chapters/iii-b-diazotans): The Blight threatens total crop failure, leading to potential famine and societal collapse.
- [IV: Panic](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/nordenholt_s_million_se/chapters/iv-panic): The chapter details the onset of a global food catastrophe, with the Blight destroying crops and the public slowly awakening to the threat of famine.
- [X: The Death of the Leviathan](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/nordenholt_s_million_se/chapters/x-the-death-of-the-leviathan): The chapter details the catastrophic collapse of Southern England through famine, disease rumours, and isolation, contrasting with the survival efforts in the Nitrogen Area.
- [XII: Nuit Blanche](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/nordenholt_s_million_se/chapters/xii-nuit-blanche): The narrator's journey through London illustrates the extreme measures people take to survive, including cannibalism and the formation of armed patrols.
- [XIV: Winter in the Outer World](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/nordenholt_s_million_se/chapters/xiv-winter-in-the-outer-world): The chapter details the global catastrophe of B. diazotans and the desperate struggle for food, exemplified by Hinkinson's diary of brutal survival in the American civil war.
- [XVIII: The Eleventh Hour](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/nordenholt_s_million_se/chapters/xviii-the-eleventh-hour): The pit sabotage threatens the Area's survival, forcing Nordenholt to contemplate extreme measures to endure.
- [Asgard](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/nordenholt_s_million_se/chapters/xx-asgard): The chapter details the aftermath of global famine and fire, the survival of a few colonies, and the struggle to rebuild society.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/nordenholt_s_million_se/themes/survival_and_catastrophe
- Themes index: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/nordenholt_s_million_se/themes