Published by Baen, 1989,
paperback, $3.50 ISBN 0-671-69806-0
281 pages

World War III's come and gone, but the fallout remains across the world -- including a little Irish village called Barley Cross. Civilization has devolved into a medieval tempo, with banditry and petty tyrants the norm.

Sgt. Patrick O'Meara of the 2nd Battalion Grenadier Guards, tired of garrison duty in Belfast, stole a Chieftain tank and looked to drive home to his folks. However, the post-war rioting and murdering had become so bad, most every little village was more a crypt than a home -- the result of the realization that all men were sterile. Without any future, society crumbled, including a little Irish village called Barley Cross.

But O'Meara soon puts wrong to right backed by the tank and the fact he is the only fertile fellow in Ireland. Established as lord of the manor, he takes his droit du seigneur (bedding every new bride) and proceeds to repopulate Barley Cross.

But that's only half of Hughes' story, and the rest plays out the tale of succession and conflict with style and grace. In some respects, the book seems disjointed, as Hughes develops O'Meara only to kill him off early in the book. How much more interesting the sergeant would be if we follow him a bit more. Indeed, he just starts to become interesting when he's offed by Hughes.

Still, Hughes weaves a pleasant plot using the other main characters as a bridge to O'Meara's successor. The prose slips by speedily, as events harden the characters, as they please the reader in the gritty world of post-war Ireland.