In John Wyndham's breakthrough novel The Day of the Triffids (1951), the dissolution of the modern nation-state as a result of mass blindness is used as a springboard to explore a range of social and cultural anxieties and political concerns of the postwar world. In this postapocalyptic landscape, the narrative leads the reader through descriptions of successive methods of social organization, questioning the assumptions and values of each type. The novel is also notable for Wyndham's questioning of the underlying scientific ideas, including competing theories of evolution and genetic mutation, of the mid-twentieth century. Through analysis of the three published versions of the novel's text and archival material, I consider the development of Wyndham's Wellsian style, his apocalyptic narrative structure, his political ideas, and his understanding of evolutionary theories.