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Alas, Babylon

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Alas, Babylon

Written by: Pat Frank
Narrated by: Will Patton
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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 Literary Fiction Post-Apocalyptic Science Fiction Nuclear Weapon Cold War
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What the critics say

  • 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)

What listeners say about Alas, Babylon

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

A most enjoyable listening experience.

Will Patton did an excellent job. In fact, were it not for such books as Look Homeward, Angel; The Grapes of Wrath; The Book Thief; Time & Unforeseen Occurrence; and a few Russian classics, we would have rated this book a ‘5,’ but such other books do exist. There’s excellent, and then there’s something more, beyond excellence, and perhaps beyond description. (I thought the last sentence of Alas, Babylon was perfect.)

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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such a good story.

I just loved this story !! The reader took a couple chapters to get used too. Some awkward pauses . Once I got used to it I was hooked . I love how he gave every character their own voice . The story itself even though old is so relatable . This could very well happen . Excellent Book highly recommend!!!

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2 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars

Great story, great narrator!

Will Patton is an excellent narrator, even when doing the women's voices, he manages to avoid making them one-dimensional.

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1 person found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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My favourite post-apocalyptic book so far

“One Second After “ was my favourite post-apocalyptic book until I listened to Alas Babylon.
This one is a classic. It has all (and I mean) all that a prepper might wish for in a novel.
Even though it was written in 1959 it is a timeless classic.
Narrator was perfect for this book.
Very happy with my purchase.

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1 person found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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really great

I have read the book a few times, but listening was an interesting new way to enjoy it. Absolutely recommend!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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alas Babylon!

I first read this in grade 6 and is still a fast-paced slice of alternate post WW2.
Enjoyed it again.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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Will Patton!!

Will Patton is an excellent narrator and the story is great to listen to through the lenses 2021.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Why you should read this book.

I was born in the 1960s, and we had a bomb shelter in the basement of our house. In all the years it's the only one I've ever seen, and for that I'm grateful.
There are a very few truly good Apocalypse stories in all the years I've been reading (my whole life).

In the mid 1970s I remember reading Neville Shute's On the Beach and being absolutely terrified, but also strangely drawn to read more. Over the years, Alas Babylon, Lucifer's Hammer as well as The Stand have been my favourite books about what happens in the event of something world-ending, and what can happen after ward. All the zombie flavoured post-apocalyptic books out now, don't deal with truly important things like how does a species really survive after ward? If there's a world left, how do you recover and live? If your bleeping smart phone, internet and every piece of electric equipment you owned went dead today, how would you survive? How would you find water, if not a store? If there were no cars, how would you get around (why does no one think of using horses???) How would you feed yourself and your family? How would you treat injuries and illnesses without modern medicine? Would you hide or would you seek out civilization again?

Artesian or gravity fed wells, the body's physical need for salt, how to properly fish, how to not rely on plastic this and Walmart raiding that, are all things that none of the newer stuff ever touches on. Animal husbandry is seldom even touched on, probably because the writers have nothing to draw upon. .

I know Alas Babylon is dated, although it is still timeless. Think of it as set in the 1960s. We didn't have computers, cell phones, microwaves, Big Box stores, Tylenol, or disposable every freaking thing. We in North America did worry about nuclear war. The Cuban Missille Crisis brought the Cold War very, very close to becoming a devastating reality, and it coloured some of us forever. We were that close to a 1000 year night.

Alas Babylon is responsible for the only part in the Bible I know. Remembered since I read it in the 1970s. It's a strangely hopeful book.
Will Patton does a wonderful job, he's one of my favourite Audible narrators. Of course he can't do a woman's voice very well, but I appreciate that he softens his voice when he's being a female character. I always enjoy books he narrates.

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13 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Riveting

I often consider how many of us view war as remote. But I have been married to someone who has survived being a prisoner of war and tortured. The proximity to someone who constantly relives his capture and the witness of mass murders brings that kind of experience much closer. Makes it almost personal.

This was extremely helpful to listen as each issue of survival came to surface.
Well done.

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1 person found this helpful

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excellent read

surprise find. very good story and probably a very realistic account of life after a holocaust.
good narration. great characters

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