Apocalypse, maybe? No one wants to be the middle child of history. Thinking about surviving the apocalypse feels significant, like we’re part of the eternal cosmos, instead of just another organism passing along an infinite timeline. We all want to experience something remarkable in our lifetimes…even if that something results in our own demise.
The End is at Hand is a collection of short essays about how people throughout history believe the world could end. The book explores how it has all ended before, when we mistakenly thought it would end again, and the many ways it could end in the future. Though organized chronologically, beginning with prehistoric extinctions and extending in the distant future when the universe may (or may not) collapse. Nothing lasts forever, including the worlds we inhabit – human society, our planet, or the entire universe.
The End is at Hand entertains as much as it informs, striking a balance of wry humor with scientifically backed research. Author Darrell Perkins complements these cataclysmic tales with finely crafted linocut illustrations that beautifully evoke impending doom.
Darrel Perkins is a printmaker, illustrator, and educator from Providence, Rhode Island, USA. He earned an MFA in illustration from Edinburgh College of Art in Scotland. His work has been exhibited and published throughout the US, Europe, and the Middle East over the past ten years. Perkins is currently a professor of Visual Communication at American University in Dubai.
