Alas, Babylon

By: Pat Frank

Narrated by: Will Patton

Length: 11 hrs and 11 mins

Publisher's summary

This true modern masterpiece is built around the two fateful words that make up the title and herald the end - “Alas, Babylon.” When a nuclear holocaust ravages the United States, a thousand years of civilization are stripped away overnight, and tens of millions of people are killed instantly.

But for one small town in Florida, miraculously spared, the struggle is just beginning, as men and women of all backgrounds join together to confront the darkness. Will Patton's narration paints this classic tale as an ominous picture of the terrible possibilites of the nuclear age.

©1959 Harry Hart Frank (P)2010 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

• Audie Award Winner, Fiction, 2012

"An enthralling and vivid story of the follies and failures of people, their courage and cruelty, their treachery and triumphs. Mr. Frank is a magnificent writer." ( Chicago Sunday Tribune)

"A warm, continuously interesting story of what can happen to a group of ordinary people in a perilous situation." ( New York Herald Tribune)

“Will Patton is a calm and steady narrator whose quiet intensity wraps around this post-apocalyptic saga...He reflects the tones of deference of women to men, nonwhites to whites, and children to adults. In a conversational tone, he quietly brings the characters and their relationships to life.” ( AudioFile)

Excellent post apocalyptic novel

Although a little dated, it is an excellent story about what happens when normal life support is cut off. I had a little taste of this last year when I lost power for six days during a snow storm. The first day it's fin and after that, each day becomes more difficult. My one complaint about the book was how easily each crisis was handled. It perhaps could have been renamed "father knows best-post atom bomb"

Great book and great reading!

Post Frank's story provides a powerful insight into our culture mid-20th century, exposing not only the consequences of nuclear M.A.D. theory but - set in the Jim Crow South, touching on issues of race and gender.

Will Patton's husky timbre sets the perfect down-to-earth tone for this bleak but truthful glimpse at what our world was and what it could have been.

Classic Post-Apocalyptic Tale

I didn’t expect to like this book because of its age.

I thought it would be overly dated and possibly even offensive because of language regarding race and gender issues of the time.

I was very happy to be wrong.

Don’t get me wrong, there were a few places where I had to grit my teeth a bit and remind myself when the book was written.

However, and this is a bit of a spoiler, the main protagonist has the opposite attitude in many respects towards race and gender that were common during those days.

I found it a very moving book. Well written. Good character development. Definitely worth the credit and the time.

A classic favorite of mine

I have read this book at least once a year since I was in my very early teens, 50 plus years ago.

It's story, although very dated as far as what would happen now, still fills me with dread & hope. It's characters as real to me and in some ways as close as dear friends.
So many times over the years I wished Pat Frank had expanded this tail or given us more what happens to the folks in Fort Repose as they continue to rebuild; but that does not distract or take away at all from what we have
The added aspect of it now as an audiobook helps to enrich the story, IMHO.
If you enjoy what if scenarios of the late 50s and early 60s or tails along the lines of Red Alert then do yourself a favor and take the time to enter the world that Pat Frank created in pre 1960s, pre Disney World Florida.

perfect

A classic book read my a master narrator. Holds up well even to a modern reader.

loved it

syfy fan. well written, with good pacing. Good survival tips. Loved the characters and routed for them.

Prescient and dated

Survivalist novel with more consciousness than Odd Billy Todd which was LOATHSOME. Being a boomer, I recognized the macho attitude. Despite the outmoded sex roles, the reality stayed accurate to this day.

The reality of life after the nuclear alpocalypse was often made to sound rustic and in some ways,
preferable to pre-nuke. Nevertheless, I liked it.

Vintage Nuclear War

I came across this book not too long ago. It just so happens that I began reading it after the Russians invaded Ukraine. The question of nuclear warfare has come up pretty regularly since then so it was pretty timely for me to listen to this performance of alas Babylon. Even though this book was written in 1959, everything in it applies to what is happening in 2022. I found the narration To be done really well in the story was excellent.

Finest off apocalypse novels

This is my second reading and I expect many more over the years. If you haven’t taken the time for this novel, you should.

Great Story and absolutely WONDERFUL Narrator.

I love this narrator.....Will Patton is a GREAT narrator to listen to. The story was interesting and kept my attention. Thankyou for a GOOD story and story telling!!