Finished Mo 6/1/26
The title of the book comes from a Hemmingway quote from his 'Notes On The Next War'.
This is one of my ancient paperbacks that I first completed on Tu 2/2/93.
I liked the book because it shows how an 'average' guy would deal with a revolutionary takeover of the USA. The Chinese invaded the western half of the US and the Russians take the eastern half. The story is set in upstate New York and the Russians initially treat the 'conquered' decently, but then the real agenda is revealed. The Chinese and Russians are planning a genocide to provide 'room to grow' for their people.
A better writer could have really taken this great idea and made it into something spectacular (at the very least, better than what Kornbluth provides).
From AI Mode- "Reviews for Cyril M. Kornbluth’s Not This August generally highlight it as a bleak, realistic, and highly patriotic Cold War alternate history novel. First published in 1955, the book captures the peak anxieties and paranoia of the McCarthy era."
"Historical Time Capsule: Reviewers frequently emphasize that the book is very much a product of its time. Written shortly after the Korean War, it effectively taps into 1950s atomic-age fears and Communist anxieties. The Premise: The story features a defeated United States surrendered to and occupied by the joint forces of the USSR and China. The perspective follows Billy Justin, a Korea veteran turned dairy farmer, who is drawn into an underground resistance plot to launch a hidden, half-finished weapons satellite."
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