Resurrection Day

For the Christian festival, see Easter.
Resurrection Day
Author Brendan DuBois
Country United States
Language English
Genre Alternate history
Publisher Jove
Publication date
 1999
Media type Print
Pages 387 (hardcover)
ISBN 0-399-14498-6
OCLC 40510549
813/.54 21
LC Class PS3554.U2564 R47 1999

Resurrection Day is a novel written by Brendan DuBois in 1999. It is an alternate history where the Cuban Missile Crisis escalated to a full-scale war, the Soviet Union is devastated, and the USA has been reduced to a third-rate power, relying on Great Britain for aid. Resurrection Day won the Sidewise Award for Alternate History that year.

Plot summary

Set in the aftermath of a nuclear war between the Soviet Union (USSR) and the United States, the book chronicles the investigations of Carl Landry, a reporter for the Boston Globe. As the story unravels, Carl attempts to uncover the events leading up to the war, while at the same time running from those who would have the truth buried.

The story begins in 1972, ten years after a nuclear war between the US and USSR, which was precipitated by the Cuban Missile Crisis. Washington, D.C., New York, Omaha, San Diego, Miami, and other American cities, principally those surrounding military bases, have been destroyed or rendered uninhabitable by Soviet nuclear attacks. Philadelphia is the capital of the United States, and although the civilian President George W. Romney is nominally in office, the US is effectively under martial law. The USSR has been utterly devastated by US nuclear strikes. Cuba is an atomic ruin, with Spain responsible for relief efforts aiding what is left of the island's population.

One consequence of the war is that America's embroilment in Vietnam is abruptly curtailed. US military personnel in South Vietnam (and indeed across the world) are withdrawn in order to stabilise the US in the aftermath of the Soviet missile and air strikes. The People's Republic of China has also collapsed, with numerous regional warlords waging a civil conflict against each other.

US nuclear strikes on the USSR led to the collapse of the Warsaw Pact, and also to the release of a massive fallout cloud over much of Asia, killing further millions after the destruction of the USSR. As a consequence, the US has become a pariah in the eyes of much of the world. Many governments regard members of the US Air Force (USAF) as war criminals, and its servicemen are advised not to travel abroad. After the 1962 war, nearly all the remaining countries of the globe have renounced possession of nuclear weapons. The USA alone retains an atomic arsenal.

Western Europe survived the war largely unscathed. NATO collapsed almost as soon as hostilities commenced, and France and a reunited Germany now preside over the continent. Britain remains an ally of the US, and actually assists in post-war reconstruction efforts in US states hit hardest by the war. The UK, in the period after 1962, has managed to regain much of its pre-1939 colonial confidence in the vacuum left by the destruction of the USSR and the emasculation of the US in world affairs. The policy of decolonialisation has been halted and even reversed, some newly independent nations even returning to the remaining British "Empire" in the new, uncertain world created after the "Cuban War". While British aid is welcome, there is also a sense of resentment in the US over excessive dependence on the UK. The presence of British and Canadian military personnel in the US is also a source of contention, with some Americans wondering whether their allies possess ulterior motives.

The story covers two parallel plotlines. The first involves Landry's attempts to discover what happened in Washington, DC in October 1962. US military propaganda accounts maintain that the Cuban war broke out because of John F. Kennedy's recklessness and incompetence; these claims are generally believed. Kennedy and his officials are regarded as butchers and war criminals and the only senior surviving member of JFK's inner circle, McGeorge Bundy, is imprisoned in Fort Leavenworth. In contrast, US military commanders (notably the Chief of the Air Force, General Curtis) are portrayed as the saviours of the nation. During the course of the novel Landry gradually discovers that it was Kennedy who sought to prevent the crisis over Cuba from escalating into war, and that last-minute attempts to achieve a deal with Nikita Khrushchev to end the crisis were deliberately sabotaged by Curtis and other generals.

The second plotline concerns Anglo-American relations. Landry and a British journalist, Sandy Price, discover that elements within the British government and security services are plotting a military takeover (or anschluss) of the US. This plan is underway near the end of the novel, and is called off at the last minute.

Major characters

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See also