William Golding’s Lord of the Flies remains a bleak meditation on power, fear and civilisation. In today’s politics, its allegory feels newly unsettling.

Lord of the Flies, a parable for our times is now a television series – it can also be seen as an allegory for Trump’s America.

William Golding’s 1954 novel was originally rejected by 21 publishers. When released it was simultaneously lauded and condemned for racism, sexism, violence and profanity, and continued to be so from the 1970s to the 1990s.

Golding was a teacher at a reputable boy’s grammar school before and after he fought in World War 2. Lord of the Flies was the first book in his subsequent writing career. The novel offers a bleak, pessimistic view of human beings, showing how, without the constraints of civilisation and the rule of law, a group of grammar school educated British boys, on their own, descended into savagery, violence and war.

About 30 boys, young’uns and early teens survive a plane crash on an isolated island. Two potential leaders emerge, Ralph, a popular boy, and Jack, head of the choir boys, who remain as a pack. Ralph is elected leader and Piggy, a fat boy with spectacles, never named, ridiculed and laughed at as the perennial outsider, is the voice of reason and practical advice. They agree with Ralph, following Piggy’s advice, they need to set rules; to set a fire in hope they will be found, look after the young’uns, build shelters and find food. “That’s what grown-ups would........

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