National Network for Equitable Library Service

Is war the only way of reviving an overpopulated, degenerate world? Knowle Noland - ex-convict, ex-traveller and captain of the tramp freighter Trieste Star - has always believed that war was senseless and futile. But faced with starvation and disease in a barren land, where robots and prison gangs tend the poison-drenched countryside, and under the influence of the beautiful Justine, who believes that a global war is the only answer, Knowle begins to hope that a war begun by him will wipe out millions and lead to a better world for the survivors.