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Originally Posted by nekokami
I'm inclined to agree with the reviewer's interpretation. (But I still didn't like the book-- I think I just didn't like any of the characters enough, and I thought the ending was rather lame.)
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I concur with the review as well.
You can draw an interesting parallel with Norman Spinrad's _The Iron Dream_. The Iron Dream is an interesting alternate history novel. The conceit is that it was written in a history in which Adolph Hitler emigrated to the United States instead of becoming leader of Nazi Germany, and the book is a pulp SF novel supposedly written by the alternate Hitler.
It takes place in a post nuclear holocaust world, where the protagonist rises to leadership of his country, and leads it in a successful campaign against the various mutants left over from the holocaust and their masters, the evil Doms, thus saving his world for true humanity. In the early stages, it's a classic pulp SF action/adventure tale, and you root for the noble hero as he struggles against the forces of darkness. But this is a book written by Adolph Hitler, from Hitler's warped perspective, and as the story progresses and the ideology comes to the forefront, you start to realize the slippery slope you are standing on, and just what you've bought into.
I think Spinrad's handling of the idea is more effective than Heinlein's, but he's traveling similar moral ground.
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Dennis