Alas, Babylon cover art

Alas, Babylon

 Preview
LIMITED TIME OFFER

3 months free
Try for £0.00
£8.99/mo thereafter. Renews automatically. Terms apply. Offer ends 31 July 2025 at 23:59 GMT.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for £8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.

Alas, Babylon

By: Pat Frank
Narrated by: Will Patton
Try for £0.00

£8.99/mo after 3 months. Offer ends 31 July 2025 23:59 GMT. Cancel monthly.

Buy Now for £17.99

Buy Now for £17.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
Switch payment method
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

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. Classics Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Post-Apocalyptic Science Fiction Nuclear War Social justice Cold War

Listeners also enjoyed...

 One Second After cover art
On the Beach cover art
Famine cover art
Light in August cover art
Swan Song cover art
Properties of Thirst cover art
The Dog of the South cover art
The Road cover art
Lucifer's Hammer cover art
The Best of Us cover art
After the Silence cover art
Brave New World cover art
Going Home cover art
Bend with the Wind cover art
Ikon cover art
The Borrowed World Box Set, Volume One: Books 1-3 cover art

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)
All stars
Most relevant  
This was well read by the narrator and the story was really interesting, even though it is very dated re: social attitudes and the racism and misogyny is shocking. I had read previous reviews and so was forewarned, but even so, a couple of times I gasped out loud at the language. Having said that, Frank was clearly a liberal by 1959 US standards and tries to address at least some of the contemporary attitudes towards race, (if not towards women!) It is important that such books stay in print as a record of some of the prejudiced social cultural and historical attitudes of the recent past, even if they challenge our sensitivities!

I am surprised that the novel hasn't been updated and made into a film, as the story itself is genuinely gripping. It would be brilliant as a TV series, (something like 'Jericho' or 'The Walking Dead') or as a feature film.

It reminded me somewhat of Matheson's 'I Am Legend' in terms of the lone wolf, morally upright 'hero' with his dedication to upholding what was seen in 50s America as the best of humanity's values and beliefs. The ending is a bit of a cop out, and the dearth of radiation victims coming in from outside beggars belief, but Frank creates a real sense of menace in the lead up to war, in particular and we do care about the main characters.

I recommend this book to those who enjoy 50s sci-fi and apocalyptic fiction.

A very interesting 50s sci fi

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Amazing to think this was written back in 1959, a year after I was born. It's very modern in its tone and style, and I loved it, and the narrator. A great read, a great writer, a very poetic style, this is a classic apparently and I can understand why...

Excellent post-apocalyptic book

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This book is a bit of a time capsule. It was written in the 1950's, and very much shows its age. The worries are about the cold war, the nuclear bomb, and the solutions are somewhat charming and quaint. How does one survive after society breaks down is very much tied to the age when that may happen. For instance, I imagine an event like this happening in Florida 2021 would be much more violent, since everyone and their mum now has access to assault rifles and whatnot. The natural resources would be stretched to their limits much earlier too, since the population is higher and natural habitats for edible flora and fauna are much, much smaller. The solutions here are the community coming together and some lucky plot armor and it is somewhat interesting/pleasant to read about. I think that if you'd have read this book when it first came out, it would have been pretty mind-blowing and highly interesting. The writing style is well done too, this is obviously written by an experienced/talented author. The narration is perfect for the material. A slight Southern accent which suits the location the story is set in, no irritating verbal tics or weird voices, and clear pronunciation so easy to follow.

A word of warning though; this is very much of its age/location and therefore has a lot of racist and sexist elements to it.
The racism is on three levels; Stereotypes used (the lazy drunk black man and so on), outright racist language (the N word is spoken out loud in full, repeatedly) plus the black characters are there in service of the plot development of the white characters. There is one moment at the end that is particularly galling, you will know what I mean when you get there. However, I think I found the sexism harder to stomach. The racists in the book are clearly painted as the bad guys. The protagonist holds (for the time) progressive views and has friendships/respect for the black characters. However, the sexism is everywhere, casually displayed by all the male characters including the main character, and never questioned like the racist views are. Women are described, spoken about by the characters, and act in ways that make it clear they are all fools in the end. The view is explicitly expressed that women need a man next to them, otherwise they can't function. They all go a bit potty in the head at some point, even when presented as strong. level headed women in the beginning. Women who aren't married are described as nymphomaniacs or manipulating harlots. It is just pretty bad because it seeps into everything. Even the two women who are introduced in the beginning as pretty intelligent end up in an antagonistic situation because they both want the same man, and both explicitly state in the end that it is the mans place to make decisions around the house. 1950's for sure, but on the other hand there were many people who thought otherwise even during that time (suffragettes, feminism) so it is clear these are the authors personal views. That (plus the racism) made it less interesting and enjoyable for me to listen too. If you treat it as a historical record, it is easier to digest.

Time capsule

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
It's a great listen, of course it's easier when it's a great story. A good yarn, well written, well narrated and quite frankly, all too real in it's fictional deliberations. The way things are heating up in the Middle East, perhaps we should read this more than once!

Alas, there isn't more like it.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Having read and watch movies of the topic, can't help saying that it has an uplifting approach to the end of the world. It could be a little bit unrealistic tho, certain situations, although verisimilar, are quite conveniently solved. I guess is refreshing as well to know that not all will be lost.

A sort of happy tale

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Very enjoyable because it is set and was written in 1950s America, rather than coming across as dated it was more like historical fiction which I enjoyed a lot. For a post apocalyptic story it is not at all as grim and gory as a modern book would be - cannibalism, slavery and the other usual depravity and gore that you expect in a more modern post apocalypse story! These things are maybe hinted at rather than really appearing in the story, apart from the odd bad guy most people are pretty decent and most behave in a relatively civilised manner. It is strangely almost a positive story, I wouldn't be too concerned about letting a younger reader / listener have this book. I have read reviews elsewhere that described it as having some racist and sexist elements to it - which there of course are going to be, it is set in Florida and was written in 1950s America! It is not as realistic in many as a more modern book would be, but I personally forgive that as it was a very enjoyable listen with interesting characters and settings. If you can credit the book for being written in more innocent times in terms of what would be acceptable amounts of horror and gore (there really is none) and enjoy it as an innocent predecessor of the modern post apocalypse book, it is very well worth a listen and very enjoyable. - I love the game Fallout 3 which has loads of 1950s styling and a post nuclear war setting, so this may have clouded my judgement a bit but I enjoyed the listen a lot.

Classic... Nuclear War 1950s setting.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This story is one of my favourites. It’s a Swiss family Robison/Robison Crusoe story set within a nuclear apocalypse. It’s fun it’s escapist and will Patton is easy on the ears. My only criticism is the last chapter seems a little rushed.

Great book well read

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Good story which, as others have noted, has stood the test of time as well or better than any other of its era. Sympathetically written; but brilliantly read by Will Parton: 100% the right reader for this story.

Brilliant narration

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Good book.
Very good performance by narrator.
Couldn't wait to continue to listen.
Not most thrilling of books but story is interesting till the end.

Interesting book

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Without looking I assume this was written a long time ago, however I quite enjoyed this book and it kept me interested.

A bit old fassioned

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews