Set in the aftermath of a nuclear war between the Soviet Union and the United States, the book chronicles the investigations of Carl Landry, a reporter for The Boston Globe.

US military personnel in South Vietnam and the rest of the world are withdrawn to stabilize the US in the aftermath of the Soviet missile and air strikes.

The United Kingdom and Canada remain American allies and actively assist in post-war reconstruction efforts in US states that were hit the hardest by the war.

The British, since 1962, have managed to regain much of their pre-1939 colonial confidence in the vacuum that is left by the destruction of the Soviet Union and the emasculation of the US in world affairs.

The large presence of British and Canadian military personnel in the United States is also a source of contention, and some Americans wonder whether their allies possess ulterior motives.

US military propaganda accounts maintain that the Cuban War broke out because of John F. Kennedy's recklessness and incompetence; those claims are generally believed.

Kennedy and his officials are regarded as butchers and war criminals and the only senior surviving member of his inner circle, McGeorge Bundy, is imprisoned in Fort Leavenworth.