Level 7
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Level 7 is a 1959 science fiction novel by Mordecai Roshwald.
It is told from the perspective of a modern soldier, known as X-127, who is ordered to push the button to begin World War III. From that point, all life moves from the surface of the earth to a collection of underground shelter complexes, which are gradually snuffed out, one-by-one, as the surface contamination makes its way down past air filters and into ground water sources. In the end, the inhabitants of "Level 7" are exterminated by a malfunction in their nuclear power pile.
The book is written in such a way so as to make it impossible to determine which side is which. References to democracy are structured as to be just as applicable to the statements made about democracy by the Soviet government of the time. The book contains no geographical references or individual names.
Level 7 was adapted by J. B. Priestly for a 1966 episode of the BBC2 television science-fiction drama programme Out of the Unknown.