From Pat Frank--author of the classic apocalyptic sci-fi novel Alas, Babylon--comes a political thriller set, and written, at the dawn of the Cold War, now back in print.

In Pat Frank's riveting, insightful, and thought-provoking novel, young, outspoken Jeff Baker comes out of World War II determined to work for the State Department. When he lands his assignment in 1949, he becomes the third secretary of the US embassy in Budapest, an observation post behind the Iron Curtain.

Jeff's experiences as a soldier fighting on a hill in Italy left him scarred and instilled in...