William Golding

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Referenced twice as a comparison to the violent, unsupervised conditions at 18th century public schools

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Mentioned as an example of other authors wrestling with questions about evil and power in the mid-20th century, written in the middle of the 1950s

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Mentioned as an example of mid-century culture's preoccupation with the evil that lurks within ordinary people, paralleling Christie's recurring theme that murderers are not maniacs but otherwise well-adjusted individuals whose human flaws have taken them one step too far.

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Chris Stringer references Lord of the Flies in passing when discussing Golding's thematic preoccupations, noting that in it 'we've got that dual nature of humanity showing up, humanity as being potentially cruel,' which parallels how modern humans treat Neanderthals in The Inheritors. Mentioned to illustrate Golding's consistent literary theme of human cruelty and moral darkness.

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Dominic recommends this as 'an absolutely magnificent novel' about Neanderthals, calling it 'probably the best' of Golding's books. The novel shows the world through Neanderthal eyes, portraying them as innocent children of nature while modern humans are depicted as cruel — reflecting Golding's preoccupation with human evil. Chris Stringer discusses how the novel was a reaction against H.G. Wells' portrayal of Neanderthals as brutish, and it's referenced multiple times throughout the episode as emblematic of the 'humans as villains' interpretation of the Neanderthal extinction.