The 19 Best Books About Nuclear War
Best Post Apocalyptic Books → The 19 Best Post Books About Nuclear War
Books about nuclear war are, to many people, the founding cornerstones of post apocalyptic fiction. After all, it was the dawning of the nuclear age that brought the possibility of imminent catastrophe to the forefront of the public consciousness, a time when total atomic annihilation seemed never more than a button-push away.
This "golden age" of post apocalyptic fiction birthed and inspired some of the genre's best stories, from Nevil Shute's melancholy classic On the Beach, through to modern classics like James Morrow's This is the Way the World Ends. So to feed your nuclear addiction, I'm showcasing 10 of the very best books about nuclear war.
Ready to dive headfirst into total atomic annihilation?
1) Alas, Babylon - Pat Frank
First published in 1959, Pat Frank's classic post apocalyptic novel was one of the first "nuclear age" books to tackle the catastrophic effects of nuclear warfare, and remains one of the genre's defining stories to this day.
The tale follows the inhabitants of the small Florida town of Fort Repose, as they bear witness to nuclear war at the hands of the Soviet Union. Watching nearby military bases disappear in a blinding flash, the story's protagonist begins to fear for the safety of his enlisted brother. Following the small community as they struggle to make sense of life after Armageddon, Alas Babylon is one of the most famous books about nuclear war - and with good reason. Perfectly capturing the Zeitgeist of the dawning atomic age, it’s an absolute must-read for any fan of post apocalyptic fiction.
2) A Canticle for Leibowitz – Walter M. Miller, Jr.
A Canticle for Leibowitz takes place 600-years after an event known as ‘the Flame Deluge‘, an apocalypse apparently caused by the arrogance and hubris of man’s scientific pursuits. In the centuries that followed, the planet’s few survivors have turned on the scientists and academics, leaving behind a world of superstition, fear, and a handful of strange technological relics.
The idea of religion finding renewed strength in the power vacuum left by nuclear war has been used throughout the post apocalyptic genre, but nowhere is it used as effectively as Walter Miller's classic novel. The story follows the growth of the Catholic church, as the church tasks itself with preserving the knowledge of the earth's lost generation—but their naivety and drive for progress risk dooming the planet's remaining inhabitants to repeat history.
Tracking the seemingly never-ending conflict of science and religion, A Canticle for Leibowitz is a timeless classic of the post apocalyptic genre.
3) A Gift Upon the Shore – M. K. Wren
With the memory of nuclear Armageddon etched indelibly into their minds, the characters of MK Wren's post apocalyptic classic find themselves determined to preserve the few scraps of knowledge they have access to, and set out to save the Western world's great books.
Taking place a generation after nuclear war, A Gift Upon the Shore follows the journey of two survivors, as they attempt to preserve the last artefacts of civilisation: books. Drawn into conflict with another band of survivors known as the Ark, the tale’s protagonists struggle to preserve the knowledge of a forgotten world, and their humanity alongside it.
In doing so, they find themselves drawn into conflict with a group of religious fundamentalists, determined to purge the Earth of the information that brought about its downfall. After a plague decimates their population, the religious "Arkites" agree to take in the few survivors, and in the process, set the wheels of an unlikely friendship in motion.
4) Cat’s Cradle – Kurt Vonnegut
As the classic Slaughterhouse-five attests to, Vonnegut is a master at using humour and absurd satire to tackle some of the deepest, darkest topics around. Cat's Cradle continues this tradition, and introduces the world to Dr Felix Hoenikker: co-creator of the atomic bomb, and inventor of the mysterious and destructive chemical compound known as ice-nine.
Following the story of Felix Hoenikker, the fictional co-creator of the atom bomb, Vonnegut tackles a grave subject with typically humanising humour and sincerity. The story is a hilarious and poignant chase in search of Hoenikker and his exploits, in an attempt to save the world from being frozen solid by his legacy - creating a profound reflection on the madness of atomic war in the process.
5) Children of the Dust – Louise Lawrence
Split into three distinct actions, Children of the Dust charts humanity’s progress through three generations of post apocalyptic survivors. Suffering through nuclear war, the cold, dark winter that follows, and conflicts between rival bands of survivors, hope of humanity emerging from the ashes of civilisation seem dashed – until radiation-induced mutations see the survivors begin to evolve into an entirely new species – Homo superior.
6) Damnation Alley – Roger Zelazny
Beset by hurricanes, radioactive storms and giant, mutated scorpions (bringing to mind Fallout’s radscorpions), the Southern California of Zelazny’s post apocalyptic book Damnation Alley is a nightmarish, lethal world. With travel across the current tantamount to suicide, the character’s anti-hero, convicted killer Hell Tanner, is offered his freedom in exchange for making a life-or-death delivery run across the country’s barren wastes.
7) Down to a Sunless Sea – David Graham
Set in a plausible near-future, where the world’s oil reserves have run to dangerously low levels, Down to a Sunless Sea follows a plane-load of travellers flying from New York to London. Mid-flight, it becomes apparent that nuclear war has broken-out – leaving the plane’s pilot with a series of life-threatening decisions to make. Interestingly, the book was released with two alternate endings – with both US and UK publications ending in startlingly different lights.
8) Farnham’s Freehold – Robert A. Heinlein
Robert Heinlein is the legendary author behind Starship Troopers, and his unique approach to sci-fi and fantasy carries itself over into Farnham's Freehold: winning my award for the weirdest book about nuclear war in the process.
When Hugh Farnham's bunker suffers a direct hit from a nuclear bomb, the thermonuclear explosion tears a hole in space, and Hugh and his family find themselves propelled 2,000 years forward in time. As the family battle to survive in their new environment, they realise that they aren't alone - and the planet's current inhabitants have less than savoury plans for the family. It's up to Hugh and his family to work out how to survive in this (post-)post-apocalyptic world, and find out if they can ever make their way home.
9) On the Beach – Nevil Shute
On the Beach follows the plight of a small group of people in Melbourne, Australia: one of the few countries to avoid direct damage from the previous year's catastrophic nuclear war. But far from being spared from the conflict, the protagonists of Nevil Shute's classic post apocalyptic novel have to watch their fate roll slowly, inexorably towards them: as a cloud of smothering fallout blows ever closer to the continent.
Another nuclear age classic, On the Beach tackles Armageddon from a radically different angle to its contemporary, Alas, Babylon. Lacking any form of optimism, On the Beach shows humanity confronted by a slow, inevitable death, as radiation rolls inexorably towards Australia’s few surviving inhabitants. Slow, sad, and fuelled by alcohol, On the Beach is a fantastic read for fans of the more melancholy post apocalyptic books.
The story centres around the different ways each character tries to deal with their doom, and offers a profound insight into the human side of nuclear war.
10) Riddley Walker – Russell Hoban
Set 2000 years after a nuclear war, Riddley Walker happens in a primitive post apocalyptic version of modern-day Kent. The area’s inhabitant struggle by, salvaging metals and tools, until the story’s protagonist stumbles upon an attempt to recreate the ancient world’s fiercest weapons. The novel’s bleak landscape, and Hoban’s unique use of language, have earned the story comparisons to A Canticle for Leibowitz and A Clockwork Orange – and Mad Max 3 is even thought to borrow many of the story’s key themes.
11) Saint Leibowitz and the Wild Horse Woman – Walter M. Miller, Jr.
A Canticle for Leibowitz was the only novel published during Walter M. Miller Jr.’s lifetime, but a sequel, Saint Leibowitz and the Wild Horse Woman, was published posthumously. In it, Miller returns to the land of the Flame Deluge, and explores how religion, politics and love have combined to reshape a scarred and desolate world.
12) Swan Song – Robert R. McCammon
Written in 1987, Swan Song draws upon a plethora of historical conflicts, following rising tension between the US and the Soviet Union, chemical warfare in Afghanistan, and imminent nuclear conflict between India, Pakistan, Iran and Iraq. With such a tumultuous backdrop, it’s no surprise that the story follows the story of a handful of disparate survivors, in the aftermath of total nuclear annihilation.
Where many of these books about nuclear war take a melancholy, reflective look at the ends of days, Swan Song takes a very different tact. From one of the masters of horror, Robert McCammon, Swan Song is an epic tale of survival in the aftermath of war. The story follows a disparate band of unlikely friends as they make their way across the ruins of post apocalyptic America, and in the process, cross the path of the Man of Many Faces - and evil itself. A huge, sprawling novel, Swan Song is McCammon's finest hour: and comparisons to Stephen King's epic The Stand are completely deserved.
13) The Chrysalids – John Wyndham
The Chrysalids elaborates on The Day of the Triffids theme of genetic mutation. Portraying a community of religious zealots, the remaining survivors of an apocalyptic event known as the Tribulation band together to eradicate any form of genetic deviance. With their harsh principles applied to flora, fauna, and eventually, the novel’s protagonists, The Chrysalids is regarded by many to be Wyndham’s finest novel.
14) The Long Tomorrow – Leigh Brackett
Another novel from the golden age of post apocalyptic fiction (in this instance, published in 1955), The Long Tomorrow is set in the aftermath of a nuclear war, and a world that fears scientific reasoning and knowledge. With technology blamed for the world’s demise, religious superstition takes hold of the nation’s survivors – creating another classic commentary on the conflict between science and religion.
The Long Tomorrow takes a mature look at many of the tropes found in classic books about nuclear war: technology becomes vilified; new religious orders evolve to fill the gap left by the collapse of government, science and society; and the story's protagonists find themselves drawn to the allure of forbidden technology. Leigh Brackett's 1955 novel follows two boys that set out to escape the violent clutches of their religious community, and find a fabled place, deep in the desert, where mankind works to rebuild technology.
15) The Postman – David Brin
David Brin’s most famous novel, The Postman, tells the story of a lone survivor, wandering the post apocalyptic wastes of the US. Struggling to even survive, the protagonist stumbles upon the uniform of an expired letter carrier – and with it, a sense of purpose and community not found since before the apocalypse. Despite being something of an acquired taste, the Kevin Costner film of the same name is a worthwhile watch for any serious fans of post apocalyptic fiction.
16)The Slynx – Tatyana Tolstaya
As a descendant of legendary Russian word-smith Leo Tolstoy, it should be no surprise that Tatyana Tolstaya’s post apocalyptic book The Slynx is a masterclass in modern creative fiction. With a heavy dose of political commentary, sandwiched between irradiated mutants and the criminalised act of Freethinking, The Slynx is the ultimate combination of dystopian social commentary and haunting post apocalyptic storytelling.
17) The Wild Shore – Kim Stanley Robinson
The first of Kim Stanley Robinson's Three Californias trilogy, The Wild Shore follows the inhabitants of a small community on the Pacific Coast, living out their lives in the aftermath of nuclear war. With each book in the series exploring a different vision of the future, The Wild Shore paints a bleak picture of ongoing conflict and the regression of society, in a country intentionally annexed and isolated by the world’s few remaining nations.
Battling against food shortages and harsh sanctions imposed by the war's victors are problem enough, but the story's protagonist has visions of a grander purpose: one that will help rebuild the fallen country. Part frontier story, part post apocalyptic epic, The Wild Shore is one of the most beautiful and profound books about nuclear war ever written.
18) This Is the Way the World Ends - James Morrow
Bold statement time: I've read a lot of books about nuclear war, and This is the Way the World Ends is probably my favourite. James Morrow manages to combine the utterly surreal with the truly heartbreaking, creating a novel that's both a compelling story of love between a father and his daughter, and a profound look at the absurdities of nuclear war.
Seamlessly integrating fantasy and reality into a fluid narrative, This is the Way the World Ends is a stark reminder that we all have a role to play in protecting the world for future generations; and when the world ends in nuclear fire, we're all culpable.
19) Z for Zachariah – Robert C. O’Brien
Z for Zachariah follows the post apocalyptic struggles of a sixteen-year-old girl, a survivor of nuclear and chemical warfare through the sheer virtue of living in a small valley with a self-contained weather system. She lives an isolated life with her family, until one-day, a stranger in a radiation-proof suit stumbles into the valley. Promising both danger and excitement, O’Brien’s posthumously published novel pairs an emotive, engaging story with an intricately-detailed vision of the post apocalyptic world.
