Alas, Babylon

by Pat Frank

April 14, 2025

Alas, Babylon, by Pat Frank, is a dystopian science fiction novel. Perhaps it belongs in its own sub-genre of Cold War speculative fiction; the signature theme is the question, what is the aftermath of a nuclear war? Three primary examples are On the Beach, Alas, Babylon and A Canticle for Liebowitz, published in 1957 and 1959. There was a surge of new entries published in 1980 that mirrored a resurgence of Cold War fears in that political climate.

            These earlier novels are uncluttered by threats of EMPs or nuclear winter. Such constructs  were not yet fully developed by 1959. There is, however, widespread destruction at multiple bomb sites throughout the country plus conferred pariah status if you happen to live in a “contaminated zone.” Telecommunication is skeletal, spotty and unreliable. Re-supply of basic necessities from the outside is non-existent. The social fabric shrinks to the size of your neighborhood. Outsiders are suspect and reasonably so. Local defense and search for alternative food sources become primary long-term concerns.

            Pat Frank was an experienced journalist and active observer of the political and military context of the Cold War. In Alas, Babylon he devotes considerable storytelling to developing the military and geo-political scenario that unravels so dramatically into a nuclear exchange. This political-thriller prologue deftly undergirds the atmosphere of dread and panic that ensues.

            Frank introduces some amusing ironies. The government leans on nuclear energy to try and restore power to the population. The US receives aid of food, fuel and medicine aid from ‘third world’ countries such as Thailand, Indonesia and Venezuela. “Three Greats,” India, China and Japan have replaced the US and the Soviet Union as the pre-eminent powers in the world.

            The rest of the story is taken up with character development and the challenges of rebuilding a sustainable way  of life. There is misery, privation and death. But rising from necessity, we see ordinary people finding ways to survive, with more or less success, by cooperating with each other. Far from being a dirge of doom and gloom, Alas, Babylon closes on a rising mood of hope and optimism.