Warday and the Journey Onwards [Paperback]

Whitley Strieber (Author), James W. Kunetka (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 1985

The unthinkable happened five years ago and now two writers have set out to find what's left of America. New York, Washington D.C., San Antonio, and parts of the Central and Western states are gone, and famine, epidemics, border wars and radiation diseases have devastated the countryside in between. It was a "limited" nuclear war, just a 36-minute exchange of missiles that abruptly ended when the superpowers' communication systems broke down. But Warday destroyed much of civilization. Whitley Strieber and James Kunetka, old friends and writers, take a dangerous odyssey across the former United States, sometimes hopeful that a new, peaceful world can be built over the old, sometimes despairing over the immense losses and embittered people they meet. In an eerie blend of fact and imagination, Strieber (author of "The Wolfen" and "The Hunger") and Kunetka (author of "City of Fire: Los Alamos and The Atomic Age", "1943-1945" and "Oppenheimer: The Years of Risk") cut through the doublespeak of military bureaucracy and the rhetoric of the 1980's peace movement to portray America after Warday.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Coronet Books; New edition edition (April 1, 1985)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0340366494
• ISBN-13: 978-0340366493
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.6 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (63 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,448,567 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

46 of 51 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Biased yes, but I keep coming back June 9, 2000

By Rod D. Martin

Format:Hardcover

I first read Warday when it first came out (15, 16 years ago?). I keep re-reading it. Yes, it has a Leftist slant (the war is our fault because we deployed SDI, etc. etc.), and yet it's not so preachy as some say: a lot of the preaching reflects the very realistic depiction of how people *after* such a war would likely feel about *our* world after the fact.

But never mind all that. There's never been anything to compare to Warday. Not in technical accuracy. Not in scope of post-apocalyptic survey (virtually the entire U.S. and then some). Not in style of writing (a journalistic account from two very different perspectives). And on top of that, the human element is as strong as or stronger than any other book of its kind.

Like I said, I keep coming back. Most people I know who've read it do the same. No matter what the quibbles I have with it, it's the best of the best. It's definitely the best thing that nut-ball Whitley Streiber ever produced. Truly a must-read, must-own.

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent April 17, 2004

By Miawil

Format:Hardcover

I was 12 when I first heard about this book and didn't read it until I was 19. It wasn't until I reread it three years later, however, that this book had such an impact of me. Like many readers, I still find myself rereading it today. Its as if the authors had stepped into an alternate universe, it is so creepy adn realistic. I really wonder if that so-called-nutball Streiber had accessed some alternate universe because the details were so real. I had my gripes with the book; California I felt, was overfocused on, while such places as the North Central States like Minnesota, Michigan, and the Deep South where I live are barely given any mention at all. But other than that, I think the book is amazingly engrossing. And as for the reviewer who scoffs at the idea of the United States disintergrating after such an attack, he is a typical example of blind, nationlistic lack of rational. America is a large, sectionalized, divided country, with a populace that takes our institutions and creature comforts for granted, even in the best of times. Take away a few major cities, our economy, and our luxury items, throw in chaos, radiation, and pandemics, and I think the scenario presented was extremely accurate, which is why I believe this book is still an important read 20 years later

27 of 29 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A "documentary" of the aftermath of nuclear war March 25, 2002

By Kim Boykin

Format:Hardcover

On October 27, 1988, the United States and the Soviet Union fight a "limited" nuclear war. Washington, DC, and San Antonio are vaporized. New York City is left in ruins. Electromagnetic pulses wipe out computers and electronic car ignitions. Radiation sickness is followed by famine and a flu epidemic. Five years after Warday, two writers tour what was the United States to assemble this documentary of life after the war, weaving together interviews, government documents, and the chronicle of their travels.

The possible consequences of nuclear war are presented convincingly and in detail, in an understated, journalistic style that makes the book quietly frightening.

(Other good stories of the aftermath of nuclear war: "Alas, Babylon," "On the Beach," and "Riddley Walker.")