Historical fiction book · Curated
The Last Town on Earth
Thomas Mullen · historical fiction
A mill town quarantines itself against the 1918 flu (SAH Prize 2007).
About this historical novel
The Last Town on Earth by Thomas Mullen is historical fiction set around 1918 in the World War I era period with key settings including Washington State, United States. A mill town quarantines itself against the 1918 flu (SAH Prize 2007).
On HisFic we tag it under 1. Literary historical fiction and 5. Military & war so you can pair it with similar story types. Recurring themes include plague, community, and war. It also appears on our prize-winner shelf—useful if you like critically recognized historical novels.
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Plot summary
A mill town quarantines itself against the 1918 flu (SAH Prize 2007).
Awards
- ★ Society of American Historians Prize for Historical Fiction · 2007 (winner)
Biennial US prize (formerly James Fenimore Cooper Prize) for historical fiction on an American subject.
Subgenres
Eras
Browse this mix
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Curated titles that share era, story type, or themes.
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- A Farewell to Arms · Ernest Hemingway
On the Italian front in World War I, American ambulance driver Frederic Henry falls in love with British nurse Catherine Barkley as the Caporetto retreat unravels the army around them. Hemingway’s 1929 novel is Great War historical fiction stripped to weather, wounds, and a private peace that cannot hold.
- Remember Ben Clayton · Stephen Harrigan
A sculptor memorializes a rancher’s son killed in WWI (SAH Prize 2013).
- The Women · Kristin Hannah
A young American nurse serves in Vietnam and struggles to be seen when she comes home.
- East of Eden · John Steinbeck
From the Civil War to the Great War, the Hamiltons and the Trasks settle the Salinas Valley, and two generations of brothers replay Cain and Abel—land, a woman named Cathy, and the Hebrew word timshel, thou mayest. John Steinbeck’s novel is Gilded Age family-saga historical fiction of California: a valley’s making, and a family’s argument with fate.
Regions & places
North America
Washington State · United States
Themes
- plague
- community
- war
Tags
award-winner