The Last Supper: And Other Stories — Howard Fast

Sixteen stories that depict America -- and the world -- emerging from the wreckage of World War II

From a glimpse of Coca-Cola's first appearance in a remote part of the Arabian desert to the tale of a wealthy, paranoid man building a shelter after the first hydrogen bomb tests, the stories in The Last Supper depict a world coming to grips with the new post-war reality. As always, Howard Fast has an ear for the way history echoes through the generations, and his tales of American ascendency are complemented by crisp fictional portraits of the country's earliest days, including three stories drawn from the life of colonial statesman Samuel Adams.

Compelling and insightful, The Last Supper is an absorbing collection of mid-century Americana and a window into the mind of one of the country's greatest modern writers.