Lit Lawvers discussion

After a nuclear World War III has destroyed most of the globe, the few remaining survivors in southern Australia await the radioactive cloud that is heading their way and bringing certain death to everyone in its path. Among them is an American submarine captain struggling to resist the knowledge that his wife and children in the United States must be dead. Then a faint Morse code signal is picked up, transmitting from somewhere near Seattle, and Captain Towers must lead his submarine crew on a bleak tour of the ruined world in a desperate search for signs of life. On the Beach is a remarkably convincing portrait of how ordinary people might face the most unimaginable nightmare.

What struck me about the story was how relatively calm the population was when facing the impending doom. Do you think this is a more likely result than the looting and mayhem you typically see? Or was this a split between the way Americans and Australians would act in the situation?

I've never read On the Beach, though I love Shute's more hopeful book, A Town Like Alice.