This book was written during the Cold War era and reflects the concerns of the time, especially the perceived possibility that humanity could be destroyed in a nuclear war. It can also be seen as a satirical work, with its depiction of a deadly war based on a senseless conflict over something as trivial as a breakfast food. The concept of a war based on toast is similar to the war between Lilliput and Blefuscu in Jonathan Swift's 1726 satire "Gulliver's Travels", which was nominally based on an argument over the correct end to crack an egg once soft-boiled.