The common thread in post-apocalyptic fiction is balkanization, with the States dis-uniting into smaller, mutually hostile geopolitical fragments: confederacies, theocracies, city-states, tribal zones, no-man’s lands. (Credit: ThaDrummer/DeviantArt) In post-apocalyptic fiction, imagined futures turn today’s political and cultural tensions into geography. Key Takeaways By Frank Jacobs The United States has ended, but America continues. The question is: How? That’s the shortest possible summary for an entire genre of U.S.-centered, post-apocalyptic fiction. Call it “America after the Fall.” It’s a fertile genre, with plenty of maps to illustrate its dismal point. That point is not the future, but the present. Like other strands of … Continue reading America’s post-apocalyptic maps reveal eerily familiar fault lines