The Twenty-Fifth Hour

AFTER the next war, civilization ceases to exist. Cities, means of communication, means of production — all are blown away and destroyed. The peoples of the Western Hemisphere are annihilated by disease, only two Americans, a brother and sister, surviving with their small yacht on a deserted Caribbean Island. In Europe bands of soldiers wander over the country in search of food. As supplies fail and ammunition is exhausted they scatter into even smaller groups; they become at last lone hunters, savages, cannibals, beast-men. One such survivor meets the two Americans who have sailed across the Atlantic, kills the brother instinctively, and then embarks with the sister. At last they find refuge in an Egypt repopulated by Hausa tribesmen and begin to rebuild. A pessimistic book, but illuminating it the logic of destruction is to prevail — and interesting throughout.