Alas, Babylon
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Cover of first edition (hardcover)
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| Author | Pat Frank |
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| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Apocalyptic novel |
| Publisher | J. B. Lippincott |
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Publication date
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1959 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover & Paperback) |
| Pages | 352 |
| ISBN | 978-0060741877 |
Alas, Babylon is a 1959 novel by American writer Pat Frank (the pen name of Harry Hart Frank), with cover art for the Bantam paperback by Robert Hunt.[1] It was one of the first apocalyptic novels of the nuclear age and remains popular 65 years after it was first published, consistently ranking in Amazon.com's Top 20 Science Fiction Short Stories list (which groups together short story collections and novels).[2] The novel deals with the effects of a nuclear war on the fictional small town of Fort Repose, Florida, which is based upon the actual city of Mount Dora, Florida.[3] The book's title is derived from Revelation 18:10: Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.
Contents
Plot summary
Randy (Randolph) Bragg lives in the small Central Florida town of Fort Repose and appears to be drifting down a somewhat aimless path in life when his older brother, Colonel Mark Bragg, an Air Force Intelligence officer, sends a telegraph ending in the words, "Alas, Babylon", a pre-established code between the brothers warning of impending disaster. Mark is flying his family down to Fort Repose for their protection while he stays at Offutt Air Force Base in Omaha, Nebraska.
Soon afterward, an American fighter pilot attempting to intercept an enemy plane over the Mediterranean inadvertently fires an AIM-9 Sidewinder heat-seeking missile that goes off course and hits an ammunition depot in Latakia, Syria, resulting in a large explosion. This event becomes the apparent casus belli for the Soviet Union to launch a nuclear strike against the United States and its allies. Early the following morning, Soviet missiles arrive from over the Arctic, as well as from submarines, while American missiles are sent in response. Randy and his house guests are awakened by shaking from the bombing of various air force bases and naval air stations across Florida; one explosion temporarily blinds Peyton, Randy's niece.
Things are chaotic at first: tourists are trapped in their hotels, telegraph lines fail to work, the use of the CONELRAD radio system exposes its weaknesses, convicts escape from jails and prisons, and a run on the bank results in the bank's closing. Randy organizes his immediate neighbors to provide housing, food, and water for themselves.
Over the months, news trickles in exclusively through the radio. Most of the government on both sides has been eliminated. The current American president, Josephine Vanbruuker-Brown, formerly the Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare, makes an address to the remaining nation, noting that she is one of the most junior cabinet officials, as everyone above her in the line of succession is dead. Having been active as a part-time Army Reserve officer before the Soviet attack, Randy organizes a community self-defense team against bandits and works to rid the community of radioactive jewelry smuggled into Fort Repose from the ruins of Miami.
The following year, Air Force helicopters make contact with Fort Repose. While they offer to evacuate the residents from Florida, which is considered a "contaminated zone", the residents choose to stay. It is revealed that the United States won the war, but at a tremendous cost as it is now the recipient of aid from third-world countries such as Brazil and Venezuela.
Reception
Galaxy reviewer Floyd C. Gale gave the novel a mixed review, rating it three stars out of five and concluding: "Frank stopped too soon with too little."[4]
Effects of the novel on others
People
- John Lennon, known for being a member of the Beatles, for his pacifist views, and for his books, In His Own Write (1964) and A Spaniard in the Works (1965), was given a copy of Alas, Babylon by journalist Larry Kane in 1965. Lennon spent all night reading the book, fueling his anti-war fervor and envisioning the world's population attempting to crawl their way back from the horrors of a nuclear catastrophe.[5]
- The story of purported time traveler John Titor has similarities to Alas, Babylon, most specifically, the Florida setting and the post-apocalyptic culture described in the novel. This similarity has been specifically addressed by detractors who doubted the authenticity of Titor's claims.[citation needed]
Literature
- In the foreword of the 2005 edition of Alas, Babylon, David Brin notes that the book was instrumental in shaping his views on nuclear war and influenced his own book, The Postman (1982).[6]
- In the acknowledgements section at the beginning of his post-apocalyptic novel One Second After (2009), William R. Forstchen credits Alas, Babylon as an influence in writing his novel about the small town of Black Mountain, North Carolina. The novel is set in a time after numerous electromagnetic pulse strikes around the world cut off all sources of electricity to the town and depicts the ensuing aftermath of sociological breakdown.
- John Ringo's 2013 Black Tide Rising book series starts with an emergency code using the phrase "AlasBabylon". Pat Frank's book is referenced as the characters' inspiration for that code, and is briefly synopsized.
Adaptations
An adaptation of Alas, Babylon was broadcast on April 3, 1960 as the 131st episode of the Playhouse 90 dramatic television series.[7] It starred Don Murray, Burt Reynolds, and Rita Moreno.[8]
See also
References
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- ↑ Playhouse 90 Episode Guide, TV.com
- ↑ IMDb "Playhouse 90" Alas, Babylon (1960)
