Somebody visiting the blog recommended this classic, and I’m glad they did.

The hero has a brother in the Air Force’s Strategic Air Command (SAC), and gets early warning of an impending nuclear war.

This novel was first published in 1959, so it’s very interesting that the atomic holocaust is triggered in the Middle East.

The hero and other characters live in a place called Fort Repose, Florida. (Either the place changed its name since then, or the author made it up; ’cause I can’t find it.) MacDill Air Force Base gets nuked and some other places, close enough to see the mushroom clouds. From then on it’s a struggle to keep the little community functioning and safe in the new world. Simple things like salt that we take for granted become a precious resource upon which your survival rests.

The author plays around a little bit with how the class/social hierarchy is shuffled around in a world ravaged by atomic war, but could have done a lot more.

It’s a nice little story, but mired in the myopia of perspective and the times in which it was written. The most tragic ASSumption made (which is perfectly understandable considering the time period) is that:

1. the most serious threat to our nation is an external one, and…
2. the cabal holding the reins of our government is truly interested in protecting the American people from such threats, or…
3. looking out for the interests of the American people more than the interests of their fellow travelers in Europe, Asia and elsewhere.

Good entertainment, with a few pointers about rebuilding a society that hasn’t fallen nearly as far as ours will.