Rating: 
Summary: Great. Seminal. Timeless.
Review: If you can believe it, this book was required reading in a rural Illinois public high school English class. I picked it up with all the dread pounded into me by years of bleary, dreary required-reading assignments. I read ''Alas, Babylon'' in three days. Like ''On the Beach'' and ''Fail-Safe,'' this book is timeless. It's a complete and satisfying story, one of the few published in any genre over the last 50 years.
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Summary: survival of one small bit of civilization
Review: I got my first copy of Alas Babylon at a little book store in Santa Monica. 2nd and Broadway. the store is gone, so is that copy. Needless to say, I have a replacement. Before The Day, it's just a simple little town. Decent people, and far enough from the big cities to avoid big city problems. And the bombs fall. Those who survive must do so on their own. No newspapers for information. No public services for help. Only the natural resources, and their own ingenuity. The most sobering line in the book is when Peyton remarks that she doesn't want to be a fisherman 'if I grow up' A child's simple statement, shows how her life has changed forever, due to events beyond he power to control.
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Summary: encouraging story of cooperation and survival
Review: I read this book in early '70's. I've loved it every since, and have read it many times. Sometimes I'll just pick it up to read it here and there.To me, the book is an encouraging story of cooperation and survival. Also, of the courage and determination of the characters. They didn't sit around and whine about the Good Old Days before The Day (the Bombs Fell); they faced problems as they arose and dealt with them. In their post-atomic war lives, some aspects of their lives were actually better than they had been before.
Rating: 
Summary: A Sunny Apocalypse
Review: Luckily for Randy Bragg and the other survivors in Ft. Repose, nuclear winter has not been discovered yet. This post-nuclear war survival tale is a lazy Sunday read. Like a 50s sitcom, everything turns out fairly well despite the end of life as we know it. For those interested in modern culture, it is a fascinating look at a time when nuclear war was seen as "survivable." Well written and a good story, despite showing its age.
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Summary: Brilliant, credible, haunting post-apocalyptic novel.
Review: Alas, Babylon is a superb example of classic post-apocalyptic science fiction. Set in the small Florida town of Fort Repose a group of believable characters survive a nuclear holocaust. Survivors include good and bad characters and it is almost a "Wild West" society that is left to rebuild civilization. Randy Bragg, our hero, holds the book together. He is a man of principle who had little direction in his life until his brother Mark, a member of SAC, sends him a coded message that we are about to enter a nuclear war. Randy snaps into action to take care of Mark's wife and two children who are sent to him in the nick of time. Randy also must make up his mind about the people he cares about most and who he will inform of the upcoming holocaust. This man, with a taste for alcohol and self-indulgence before the war, finds his character tested by the new circumstances of the survivors. A man who could not get elected in a "red-neck" town because he believed in "the whole U.S. Constitution" (equality) ends up instituting martial law in the town and using power wisely and well. Written in 1959 the author effectively addresses racial issues of blacks and Hispanics as well as the often overlooked resourcefulness and maturity of children in developing a tale of courage and hope in the face of the politician's folly. The more you know about history, the military, and human nature, the more you will appreciate this classic work.
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Summary: Human; intensly human.
Review: Think of the time in which this book was writen. The Russians were still the bad guys, SAC was still a military entity, and we were all building bomb shelters in our back yards. The story is fantastic.
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Summary: A fascinating study in how pressure produces leadership.
Review: This post holocaust novel is a brilliant study in how different people respond to intense pressure. Some commit suicide; some deny the problem, but what is most interesting, is that some find the stress a type of character stimulus, and grow into responsible, capable, pragmatic leaders.
Rating: 
Summary: valuable insight, but somewhat rose-tinted
Review: "Alas Babylon" proves to be a valuable insight into the psyche of a nation experiencing the climactic years of the Cold War. Although both the circumstances that Fort Repose encounter and the ending are laughably optimistic, I found this an entertaining and touching novel.
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Summary: Thrilling!
Review: I am in 10th grade. I just moved to Texas and I had to read the book in a week. I bought the book and read it in 2 days. It was one of the most exciting books I have ever read. I just couldn't put it down. Way to go Pat Frank.
Rating:
Summary: Awsome and supremely acurate
Review: I Read this book in less than a day but it's impact on me was tremendous. The characters are three demensional and the technical side of the story is unbelievably accurate.
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