An Affair of State

The insightful political thriller first published at the dawn of the Cold War, from the author of the postapocalyptic classic, Alas, Babylon

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 him a hatred for war in all forms—including the emerging Cold War. But when he is assigned to the "Atlantis Project," a top-secret mission for organizing an underground resistance in Hungary, he grapples with his beliefs and his loyalty to his superiors. And when he meets Rikki, a dancer in Budapest, he also finds himself torn between this new love and Susan Pickett—the love he left back home in Washington.

As he becomes more immersed in the Atlantis Project, Jeff must decide what he is willing to risk for a chance to strike a blow for peace.

Part cloak-and-dagger adventure, part high-voltage romance, and part biting satire, Pat Frank's writing and sense of detail takes readers back to a time of intrigue and uncertainty.