After the Lady Vain is shipwrecked, Edward Prendick is plucked from the waves by a passing ship and deposited on a remote island. Here he is the guest of Dr Moreau, whose notorious scientific methods had caused an uproar that left him with no choice but to flee London.

Disquieted and appalled by the pained cries of suffering animals, Edward soon realizes that the Doctor is continuing and developing his depraved experiments, and that he too is in great danger.

Shocking and suffused with contemporary fears regarding the morality of the latest advances in science and their possible implications for religion, The Island of Dr Moreau is both a ruthless social satire and an exploration of human nature.