When Randy Bragg receives a telegram from his older brother, Mark, the words Alas, Babylon jump out at him. As boys, the Braggs used to listen outside Fort Repose's African-American church and listen as the Preacher would utter those same two words throughout his sermons to warn the congregation of horrible things waiting those who went astray.
Pat Frank's novel, published in 1959, tells of a world pushed over the brink of a war so horrible that it sets civilization back a thousand years. Yet this is no Mad Max or any other sci-fi appocalypse book; it was based on what could potentially happen had the Cold War heated up.
Meeting up with Mark, Randy learns a horrible truth: career military man Mark has reason to believe that the world is about to topple over the edge to a horrific war. Handing Randy a sizable check, Mark tells his brother that his (Mark's) wife and children are flying in to Fort Repose in an effort to survive.
The family is barely in Randy's house when the war begins. The book then takes the reader into a fast-paced tale of What If the unthinkable happens.
While the book is over fifty years old, it is well worth the time to read it.
No comments:
Post a Comment