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TWENTIETH CENTURY

LIMITED

A NOVEL

BOOK TWO ~ AGE OF RECKONING

JAN DAVID BLAIS

highpoint press

TWENTIETH CENTURY LIMITED – A NOVEL

BOOK TWO ~ AGE OF RECKONING

Grateful acknowledgement is made for permission to reprint from the following copyrighted works. A History of Deeds Done Beyond the Sea, by William, Archbishop of Tyre, copyright © 1955 Columbia University Press, reprinted with permission of the publisher. The March of Folly, by Barbara Tuchman, copyright © 1984 by Barbara W. Tuchman, reprinted with permission of the publisher, Ballantine Books, a division of Random House/Bertelsmann. The Great Pretender, by Buck Ram, copyright © 1955 by Panther Music Corp., copyright renewed, used by permission.

TWENTIETH CENTURY LIMITED – A NOVEL. BOOK TWO ~ AGE OF RECKONING copyright © 2012 Jan David Blais. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations in critical articles and reviews. For information, address Highpoint Press, P.O. Box 50, Watertown MA 02471.

Publisher’s Cataloging-in-Publication

(Provided by Quality Books, Inc.)

Blais, Jan David.

Twentieth century limited : a novel / Jan David Blais.

v. cm.

Includes bibliographical references.

CONTENTS: bk. 1. Age of heroes -- bk. 2. Age of reckoning.

LCCN 2012910144

ISBN-13: 978-1478104070 (bk. 2)

ISBN-10: 1478104074 (bk. 2)

1. United States--History--20th century--Fiction. 2. Political fiction. 3. Suspense fiction. I. Title.

PS3552.L3468T84 2012 813’.54

QBI12-600147

Cover design by Nieshoff Design, Lexington, Massachusetts. Published in eBook format by Highpoint Press, P.O. 50 Watertown, MA 02471. Converted by http://www.eBookIt.com

eBook ISBN-13: 978-1-6234-6356-4

ALSO BY JAN DAVID BLAIS

Twentieth Century Limited – A Novel. Book One ~ Age of Heroes. Highpoint Press 2012. Available as a trade paperback and in electronic versions.

Flight Path - A Novel. Highpoint Press, 1996. Reissued as a trade paperback and in electronic versions, Highpoint Press 2012.

For Barbara, Annie and Andrew

Author’s Note

A number of people were kind enough to comment on the manuscript and provide advice. Andrew Blais, Annie Blais, Ed Dence, Richard Griffin, Dennis Hanlon, Jamileh Jemison, Susan Keane, John Laschenski, Nicole Malo, Willa Marcus, Lindsay Miller, Larry Pettinger, Michael W. Settle, Peter Steiner, and Charles Tuttle. And a special thank you to John S. Corcoran for review and editing above and beyond. Also Mary Sullivan and Chris Walsh for editing and copy editing, Pat Nieshoff of Nieshoff Design for cover and book design, and Nina Johannessen of Blue Iris Webdesign for website design and construction. And Paula Blais Gorgas for her suggestions and enthusiasm throughout. To everyone, named and unnamed, who encouraged me in this enterprise, my heartiest thanks. Needless to say, the author is solely responsible for any errors the book may contain.

In writing Twentieth Century Limited, numerous books, articles, online and other resources were helpful. A list can be found in the Works Consulted section at the back of this book. Other invaluable resources included Wikipedia, Britannica Online, the New York Times Online Archives, delanceyplace, and search services of Yahoo and Google.

Disclaimer

This is a work of fiction. It is entirely a product of the author’s imagination. Except for obvious references to known individuals, existing institutions and companies, and publicly-reported events, any resemblance to actual individuals, institutions, companies, or events is entirely coincidental. Because of the nature of the story – featuring print and television journalists who report the news – of necessity it makes reference to the real people who made that news, and events they were involved in. Where such newsmakers are quoted or paraphrased, the author has attempted to report their quotations or the gist of their remarks accurately. In some instances, interviews of real people by fictional characters are depicted in the story, as well as other interactions. These interviews and interactions and the dialogues they relate are entirely fictitious; the words, quotations, thoughts and impressions related are solely the invention of the author. Even here, however, the author has attempted to ascribe positions and remarks to these real newsmakers consistent with those they were reported as making in other contexts.

Watertown, Massachusetts – June 2012

“ Q. Why did God make you?

A. God made me to know Him, to love Him, to serve Him in this world, and to be happy with Him forever in the next.”

The Baltimore Catechism

“ No experience of the failure of his policy could shake his belief in its essential excellence.”

Said of King Philip II of Spain. Quoted in Barbara Tuchman, The March of Folly.

“ Compliance wins friends; truth, hatred.”

Proverbial. Quoted by William, Archbishop of Tyre in “The Problems and Motives of the Historian,” from A History of Deeds Done Beyond the Sea.