After a plane crash strands them on a tropical island while the rest of the world is ravaged by war, a group of British schoolboys attempts to form a civilized society but descends into brutal anarchy.
The common theme of nuclear disaster and human vulnerability interweaves the lives of four young people, an Ojibway Indian, an illegal Mexican migrant worker, a rock musician, and a sheep rancher's daughter with the lives of three veterans of past wars.
Marea Hoffman returns to New York after wandering the world for seven years with the intention of starting her real life, but when she has trouble adjusting, she turns to her father's colleague and friend, the grandfatherly Albert Einstein.
Discusses the origins of the Cold War and its effects on Europe, Asia, and the United States, nuclear threats, detente, and the future of the relationship between Russia and the United States.
