To the Ends of the Earth is the title given to a trilogy of nautical, relational novels—Rites of Passage (1980), Close Quarters (1987), and Fire Down Below (1989)—by British author William Golding. Set on a former British man-of-war transporting migrants to Australia in the early 19th century, the novels explore themes of class and man's reversion to savagery when isolated, in this case, the closed society of the ship's passengers and crew.