When Bill Masen wakes up blindfolded in hospital there is a bitter irony in his situation. Carefully removing his bandages he realizes that he is the only person who can see everyone else doctors and patients alike have been blinded by a meteor shower. Now with civilization in chaos the triffids huge venomous large rooted plants able to walk feeding on human flesh can have their day. The Day of the Triffids published in 1951 expresses many of the political concerns of its time the Cold War the fear of biological experimentation and the man made apocalypse. However with its terrifyingly believable insights into the genetic modification of plants the book is more relevant today than ever before