Gold and silver coins, homebuilt steam engines, Jeffersonian ideas: vital tools in the tiny town of Mountainview, West Virginia, and its fight for survival when terrorist nukes trigger a U.S. economic and social collapse. Tomano illusions leftahad returned home for peace and quiet, for his books and music. Halfheartedly running his faltering small-town Gravely Tractor dealership, the last thing he wants is a loony leftist from California on his hands. Sophieawealthy limousine Liberalais now a desperate, widowed refugee, stranded by the turmoil of The Collapse in tiny Mountainview. The last place she wants to be is in Flyover Country. Chief Barleyamiddle-aged, overweight small-town copanever wanted to do anything more than run his three-man department and write an occasional speeding ticket. The last thing he feels qualified for is guiding an entire town through desperate times. Action, love, and ideas: this thoughtful story shows ordinary peopleas extraordinary achievements in A World Turned Upside Down.