Alas, Babylon

1979 paperback edition
Author	Pat Frank
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre(s)	nuclear war
Publisher	J.B. Lippencott
Released	1959
Media Type	Print (Hardcover and Paperback)
ISBN	ISBN 0-553-13260-1 (1979 edition)

Alas, Babylon is a novel by Pat Frank published in 1959. The subject deals with the effects of a nuclear war on a small Florida town. Writer Vivian Owens believes that Pat Frank had intended the semi-fictional Fort Repose to have been based upon the real city of Mount Dora, Florida; Pat Frank lived in Tangerine, Florida, in 1958 and 1959 and Tangerine is nestled between Mount Dora and Alas, Babylon's equally semi-fictional Pistolville (Owens; Alas, Babylon: Mount Dora, Florida). Image File history File linksMetadata AlasBabylon. ... Pat Frank is the author of the novel, Song for Sarah. Frank grew up the daughter of sharecroppers in the Delta of Northeast Arkansas. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Nuclear War is a card game designed by Douglas Malewicki, and originally published in 1966. ... A hardcover (or hardback or hardbound) book is bound with rigid protective covers (typically of cardboard covered with cloth or heavy paper) and a stitched spine. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article may require cleanup. ... A novel (from French nouvelle Italian novella, new) is an extended, generally fictional narrative in prose. ... Pat Frank is the author of the novel, Song for Sarah. Frank grew up the daughter of sharecroppers in the Delta of Northeast Arkansas. ... Nuclear War is a card game designed by Douglas Malewicki, and originally published in 1966. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Mount Dora is a city located in Lake County, Florida. ...

The book's title is derived from Revelation 18:10, which is interpreted and quoted in the book as describing the aftermath of a nuclear attack. In the King James Bible, this passage reads: Visions of John of Patmos, as depicted in the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry. ... This page is about the version of the Bible; for the Harvey Danger album, see King James Version (album). ...

Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city! For in one hour is thy judgment come.

Synopsis

Randy Bragg, the protagonist, is a man who dabbles at law and lives a life with little purpose. This changes when his brother, Colonel Mark Bragg, sends him a telegram with the code words "Alas, Babylon"—their private code for disaster. Mark, who is on the staff of the Strategic Air Command (SAC), believes war between the United States and the Soviet Union is imminent. He sends his wife Helen and children Ben Franklin and Peyton to stay with Randy in Fort Repose, Florida. Randy Bragg is the main character of Alas, Babylon, by Pat Frank. ... The protagonist or main character is the central figure of a story. ... The Strategic Air Command (SAC) was the operational establishment of the United States Air Force in charge of Americas bomber-based and ballistic missile-based strategic nuclear arsenal from 1946 to 1992. ...

A U.S. Navy fighter fires a heat-seeking missile at a Soviet reconnaissance aircraft that same day. The missile goes off course and hits an ammunition depot at Latakia, Syria, resulting in an explosion that may include nuclear devices. This event is the pretext (called in the text a causus belli) for the Soviet Union to launch a pre-emptive nuclear strike against the United States. The Grumman F-11 Tiger was a single-seat carrier-based United States Navy fighter aircraft in operation during the 1950s and 1960s. ... Infra-red homing refers to a guidance system which uses the infra-red light emissions of a target to track it. ... Exocet missile in flight A missile (see also pronunciation differences) is a projectile propelled as a weapon at a target. ... Roundabout in Latakia Latakia (Arabic: اللاذقية Al-Ladhiqiyah, Greek:Λαοδικεία) is the principal port city of Syria. ... Casus belli is a Latin expression from the international law theory of Jus ad bellum. ...

Early the following morning, Mark is on duty at SAC headquarters in Omaha, Nebraska. He suspects an attack is imminent. He recommends that SAC ask for the authority to use nuclear weapons since the weapons-release process takes about a minute and a half, and the U.S. expects only about a fifteen minute warning if the Soviet Union were to attack. Later, when American radar reports an attack underway, the SAC commander says to him "Thanks for the ninety-five seconds," . Nickname: Gateway to the West Location in Nebraska Coordinates: Country United States State Nebraska County Douglas Founded 1854 Incorporated 1857 Mayor Michael Fahey Area    - City 307. ...

The effects of the war, called "The Day", on Fort Repose are varied. Tourists are trapped in their hotels. The local bank manager tries to get instructions from Jacksonville as Jacksonville is destroyed. The local disc jockey nervously reads instructions on the CONELRAD system. The only reliable method of news from the outside world is a shortwave receiver owned by one of Randy's neighbors, a retired U.S. Navy admiral. Convicts break free of chain gangs; the local retirement homes are filled with panicked people; and the flash from a nuclear blast over the city of Tampa temporarily blinds Randy's niece, Peyton. Motto: Where Florida Begins Location in the state of Florida Coordinates: Country United States State Florida County Duval Mayor John Peyton (R) Area    - City 2,264. ... For other meanings of DJ, see DJ (disambiguation). ... CONELRAD (Control of Electromagnetic Radiation) was a planned method of emergency broadcasting to the public of the United States in the event of World War III. It served two purposes; to prevent Soviet bombers from homing-in on American cities by using broadcast stations as beacons, and to provide essential... A solid-state, analog shortwave receiver Shortwave radio operates between the frequencies of 2,310 kHz and 30 MHz (30,000 kHz) [1] and came to be referred to as such in the early days of radio because the wavelengths associated with this frequency range were shorter than those commonly... A chain gang of convicts going to work near Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. ... Nuclear Blast is an independent record label and mail order record distributor with subsidiaries in Germany, the United States and Brazil. ...

As the effects of the disintegration of society get worse, many prominent people fail. The local banker commits suicide once he realizes money is useless. Randy's political rival obtains looted radioactive jewelry and becomes seriously ill with radiation sickness. Randy, instead, grows stronger. He organizes his immediate neighbors to provide housing, food, and water for themselves, organizes the community into self-defense, guides his family, and helps find salt and new supplies of food when they grow short. He fights "highwaymen" who murder residents and assault the local doctor. Some in Fort Repose discover faith; others degenerate into drunkenness. Randy and his family fare the best, though, for when Randy needs something, he commandeers it. He is backed up legally by an order of President Josephine Vanbruuker-Brown (who was the Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare when "The Day" came) for retired officers to form local militias; however, the Admiral, who would have been senior officer, takes Randy's orders, based on Randy's take-charge attitude. Folk image of a mounted highwayman Highwayman was a term used particularly in Britain during the 17th and 18th centuries to describe criminals who robbed people travelling by stagecoach and other modes of transport along public highways. ... The United States Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare was the head of the United States Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. ...

Also, his niece, Peyton, discovers an attic of antique wonders--a Victrola, old-fashioned straight razors, a treadle sewing machine--in his ancestral home, allowing the families to adapt more easily to life without electricity. The Victor Talking Machine Company (1901 - 1929) was a United States corporation, the leading American producer of phonographs and phonograph records and one of the leading phonograph companies in the world at the time. ... A DOVO straight razor Straight razor is the name given to reusable knife blade used for shaving hair. ... A modern machine (Singer Symphonie 300) A sewing machine is a mechanical (or electromechanical) device that joins fabric using thread. ...

When the Air Force finally makes contact with Fort Repose again, the community has survived, but at a cost. Aircraft of the 379th Air Expeditionary Wing and coalition counterparts stationed together at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, in southwest Asia, fly over the desert. ...

Effects of the novel

Alas, Babylon was notable for depicting fallout and radiation as an invisible threat, rather than a roaming "cloud of death" as in other novels such as On the Beach. Its theme was "You can survive if you are ready and willing to adapt." On the Beach is a post-apocalyptic end-of-the-world novel written by British author Nevil Shute after he had emigrated to Australia. ...

The book is notable for its portrayal of nuclear war as arguably winnable. When the Air Force personnel find Randy and his survivors, they are asked about the outcome of the nuclear exchange and are told: "We won it. We really clobbered 'em!" (The value of this victory is questioned, even by the speaker, who adds, "Not that it matters"; he has already explained that the "victorious" United States now has a smaller population than prewar France, and will be accepting lend-lease shipments of foodstuffs from South America, Thailand, and Indonesia.) The book presents the post-apocalyptic situation as grave but survivable, that even within the so-called "contamination zones", it is possible for communities to continue. The U.S. government is presented as functioning in uncontaminated areas, and working to help survivors as best as possible in contaminated zones. This depiction is very different from later books and films on nuclear war.

In the foreword of the 2005 edition of Alas, Babylon, David Brin admits that the book was instrumental in shaping his views on nuclear war and had an effect on his own book, The Postman (pp. xi-xii, ISBN 0-06-074187-2, Harper Perennial Modern Classics). David Brin Glen David Brin (born October 6, 1950) is a well-known American author of science fiction. ... The Postman (1985) is a post-apocalyptic novel by David Brin. ...

Adaptations

An adaptation of Alas, Babylon [1] was broadcast on April 3, 1960 as the 131st episode of the Playhouse 90 dramatic television series. April 3 is the 93rd day of the year (94th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 272 days remaining. ... Year 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1960 calendar). ... Playhouse 90 is the name of a 90-minute long dramatic television series that ran on CBS from 1956 to 1961. ...

The 2006 television series Jericho has noted similarities to the basic premise of Alas, Babylon. This article is about the CBS television drama. ...

Works Cited

• "Alas, Babylon: Mount Dora, Florida." Everything2.com. 18 Oct. 2006. 18 Oct. 2006 <http://everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1226500>.
• Owens, Vivian W. The Mount Dorans: African American History Notes of a Florida Town. Waynesboro: Eschar, 2000.