Level 7 Level 7 is a 1959 science fiction novel by the American writer Mordecai Roshwald . It is told from the first person perspective ( diary ) of a modern soldier X-127 living in the underground military complex Level 7 , where he was expected to reside permanently , fulliling the role of commanding his nation 's nuclear weapons . Plot summary Spoiler warning : Plot and/or ending details follow . During his forced residence , X-127 is ordered to push the bomb buttons to begin World War III ( which lasts a total of 2 hours and 58 minutes ) . From that point , all civilian life ( for military personelle already occupy Level 6 and 7 ) moves from the surface of the earth to a collection of underground shelter complexes ( levels 1 - 5 ) . It later emerges that the orders given had been wholly automatic , and the war had taken place as a series of electronic responses to an initial accident . Towards the end of the novel , the surviving shelters 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 . Structure 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 . The theme of the book is the dehumanisation and abstraction of nuclear warfare , and the danger that this leads to when combined with the destructive potential of the weapons involved . The novel thus acts as a warning against the nuclear arms race , as the original ( but removed ) postscript makes clear : This book is neutral - in the sense that it does not defend either the East or the West . It is not neutral in the sense that it accuses both . It is submitted for the benefit of the West and the East , as well as anybody caught in between . The Diary of Push-Button Officer X-127 is intended as a preventative anti-radioactive medicine , good for consumption in any place in the world . It is especially offered to button-pushers , rocket constructors , nuclear physicists , megaton bomb manufacturers , `` small '' atomic bomb producers , and last but not least , statesmen and politicians . It is 'not ' ( ! ) effective against buttons , robots , rockets , and the bombs themselves . Originally , the manuscript contained a preface by Martian archaeologists , who discover the diary amongst the ruins of a destroyed Earth . However , this was removed in editions earlier than 2003 , because it was felt that it spoiled the ending of the book . Level 7 was adapted by J. B. Priestley for a 1966 episode of the BBC2 television science-fiction drama programme Out of the Unknown . See also Apocalyptic science fiction This article about a science fiction novel is a stub . You can help Wikipedia by expanding it . Categories : Science fiction novels stubs | 1959 novels | Dystopian novels | Science fiction novels | Post-apocalyptic fiction | Post-apocalyptic novels In other languages : Français 