Pat Frank: Alas, Babylon (Paperback, 1984, Bantam)
mass market paperback
English language
Published Feb. 1, 1984 by Bantam.
Alas, Babylon is a 1959 novel by American writer Pat Frank (the pen name of Harry Hart Frank). It was one of the first apocalyptic novels of the nuclear age and has remained popular more than half a century 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) and has an entry in David Pringle's book Science Fiction: The 100 Best Novels. 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. The novel's title is derived from the Book of Revelation: "Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come." The cover art for the Bantam paperback edition was made by Robert Hunt.
I read this for the first time while I was in high school during the Cold War. I lived in a town that had a SAC base that also hosted nuclear ordinance. I've read it a few more times as an adult, too. While the story seems dated today, it's not hard to understand the struggles of surviving in a post-nuclear war world.
