Customer Reviews

Not This August

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The United States is conquered by the Soviet Union and Communist Chinese. This book is about the aftermath--life in conquered America. With the effective demise of Communism, this book is a bit anachronistic and dated, but it is still a fine read and it retains its ability to fascinate. Other than the South in the Civil War, America has never known defeat. This novel manages to convince the reader that such defeat is possible, and in the novel it is plausible.

Of course, there is more to the book than just the defeat of America. But that would be telling. This is a novel well worth reading and owning.

The book opens with the capitulation of the US to an alliance of communist Chinese and Soviet military might. The plot outlines how the US was the last bastion of freedom in a world steadily gobbled up by the 'red menace'. I first read this in the early sixties before Vietnam got us all distracted. C.M. Kornbluth wrote this at a time when international communism seemed unstoppable and it was just a matter time before the 'dominoes' fell. It was a very powerful story that really made you stop and think. Today it would fall into that genre we call 'Alternate History', but in its time it was meant to be a warning, much like 'On The Beach' or 'Vandenberg'. The latter-day re-write attempted to make it work in an era of modern weaponry, but failed quite badly. If you can, find a copy of the original and enjoy some classic speculative fiction of the late fifties.