(2020) ‘A story for our, and all, times’ Guardian
The Plague is Albert Camus’s world-renowned fable of fear and courage
The townspeople of Oran are in the grip of a deadly plague, which condemns its victims to a swift and horrifying death. Fear, isolation and claustrophobia follow as they are forced into quarantine. Each person responds in their own way to the lethal disease: some resign themselves to fate, some seek blame, and a few, like Dr Rieux, resist the terror.
An immediate triumph when it was published in 1947, The Plague is in part an allegory of France’s suffering under the Nazi occupation, and a story of bravery and determination against the precariousness of human existence.
‘A matchless fable of fear, courage and cowardice’ Independent
‘Magnificent’ The Times
- Author
- Albert Camus
- Publisher
- Penguin UK
- Category / Genre
- Classics, English Adults, English Books, Literature & Fiction
- ISBN
- 9780241458877
Frequently bought together
Complete the collection
The Plague (Penguin Modern Classics)
Albert Camus
EGP830
The Outsider (Penguin Modern Classics)
Albert Camus
EGP755




