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)

LOVED THIS!!!!

Will Patton is a revelation. Hope filled and terrifying. I highly recommend for anyone who likes apocalyptic fiction.

Outstanding book!

I read this in high school and for the last few years it kept poking me to hear it again. Its incredible that it was written in 1959. Many of the scenarios in the book echo to todays world. It makes you think a lot about what kind of person you would be if this happened now. A really good book that I and my husband enjoyed to the last word.

A must “read”/listen

I read this book in middle school and felt it necessary to give it another go. I think in this time it is an important message to wake those who think nuclear weapons should be used. It also reminds us we need to keep alive the skills and tools we have allowed to disappear from our lives that the machines now control. I hope nothing so awful ever comes to pass but we must learn to be prepared.

Captured me

Amazing how the world problems then and now are so dreadfully similar. Good tips on what to always keep near.
Love the narrator Will Patton.

Alas Indeed...

I think the 1945 bombing of Hiroshima prompted multiple generations to fear the bomb, or to at least prepare for it in some sense. I can remember as a child being taught what to do in case of a bombing and what to expect in the aftermath. To this very day, we have "preppers" who anticipate some sort of apocalypse.

In 1959, when this book was written, the fear was probably still very real. While I felt like the first part of the book (the build up) drug on a little too long, once the bomb(s) dropped, the actions and reactions of the people and environment was believable, for that day in time. It's a pretty dismal book, and by the time it ended, I was ready to be done with it. But that's just because of the subject matter. The book itself was very well written and the characters well developed. I do believe that we need to keep in the back of our minds that our world as we know it, the comforts and conveniences, could all be destroyed at any moment. We certainly have larger threats than hydrogen bombs now. We should all be prepared to some extent, and we should all have some kind of working knowledge on how to survive without modern conveniences. This is a timeless book, and I'm glad I finally stumbled onto it.

One of the first

This being written in 59 is surprising. It sounds like it was written yesterday. Neat book.

enjoyable

I really liked this. wish there was more info on the shape of the rest of the world after the day. but I'll take it. great book

Great read

The narrator did a great job keeping in character. It was an interesting story and well-written.

Fantastic, classic.

This book is fantastic. It's quite dated in a lot of ways, but if you remember the social contexts of the late 1950s, you can get over discomfort with the outdated stereotypical depictions of women and black people. I highly recommend it. It's a really good take on post-apocalyptic and nuclear holocaust fiction. Really good characters too.

Amazing

I read (listened) to this book on the recommendation of a friend and I am so glad that I did. This was an amazing book full of what if. What is the world as we knew it ceased to be? How would we go on? what would we do? who would survive?
Growing up in Florida I had a good idea of all of the places that were mentioned in this tale. I also have family throughout the country nearby many of the other major cities that were involved. I greatly enjoyed hearing the success of normal everyday people in the face of such terrible tragedy.
A great book that I am so happy to have read and will definitely recommend to others,