Customer Reviews

The Complete Book of Survival: How to Protect Yourself Against revolution,Riots, Hurricains, Famines and Other natural And Man-Made Disasters

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Author Stahlberg has done an exceptional job of identifying virtually all threats to human survival/ well being - even a number which I had not previously considered. The book goes on to provide clear, usable strategies which can be brought into action to deal with such events, or circumstances. There is little that has been overlooked or left out in the development of this book and it does, indeed, represent a "Complete Book of Survival" - one that should be on the bookshelf of any person who is serious about being prepared for future threats.

Just finished this interesting 288 page book. I feel justified in commenting, since I was a paramedic and Search and Rescuer for twenty years in a city of three million souls near vast wilderness areas (Montreal, Quebec). I am now an emergency preparedness consultant studying to become an ER-RN. This book had to be great for me to take time to read it. It is a well organized introductory level text. Click on the shortcut to the table of contents to see what I mean. It even lists some suggested titles. The concept of 'Day One' being the day BEFORE emergencies occur is great. If more people thought like this (or read the book), my work (past and future) would be less hectic. If you think 'surviving' should mean more than just blundering through the woods eating berries, this book will help.

The Complete Book of Survival will be an important addition to the Fringe Lunacy section of any paranoid's personal library. Prepare yourself for the collapse of the American dollar, invasion by mars men, the tilting of the earth on it's axis, the impending race wars, and foreign nations controlling our weather. This book will help you to "recognize the signs of impending doom." (from the back cover - to be read with a scary voice)

With an uncertain future, we could all end up enslaved by invading space aliens or dead at the hands of marauding stockbrokers tomorrow. Or, as the author says so eloquently in the forward to the book, "There is another future - a future in which people reading this book will live longer, and in style too."(p. 8)

This book included useful, commonsense suggestions such as: "You're of no use dead."(repeated throughout the book and not necessarily true if those with you are hungry) and "If you are trapped in your car: stay in your car. (p.121); well thought out observations, ie."...the circus elephant dying a week after you shoot him is little comfort if he tramples you to death." (p. 54); and startling truisms like "One minute you're sipping a lemonade in your backyard, and the next you're looking at a wall of water ten stories high coming straight at you."(p. 279) or "Clothing fires are a sure way to get hurt." (p. 230)

Valuable checklists of necessary survival items seem to be a complete inventory of whatever the author had lying around his house at the time. Remember that when there is a disaster, you will be glad you brought along your flour sifter (p.24) and liquor (p. 32).

Sure, you laugh now. But forget this not: the cities will be destroyed, the countryside will be a nuclear wasteland, aliens will take our valuable deuterium crystals, and your children will be made to survive on whatever they can catch and kill themselves. Then we'll see who's laughing.

Probably the best advice given in this entire book is found on page 9 where the author tells us to buy a copy of the Encyclopedia of Survival. (Instead of this book I assume.)

Had a chance to review the manuscript. After what has happened to the stock market in October I followed the advice given under Economic Survival. It has saved me from a meltdown of my lifesavings. Today with the Asia problem spilling over I'm well-protected. Will keep the book beside me as I watch the news to give me insight as to what is forthcoming and how to react. A must have in your reference library.

You have to love this book.

I know I do.

My favorite parts are the fore-mentioned alien-attacks and the gang-wars that take over your city. The author suggests that the gangs will completely outnumber your police/army/navy/special-ops/national-guard completely and that you should find a safe place to hide while they over-run your city.

I'm sure.

He later suggests that you attempt to create an uprising by gathering munitions and what-not to do so, but BEFORE all that, try to gain money by selling food to the gangs that have infected the inside of your city limits...HUH?!?!

And just so you know...there is NO way to survive completely after a nuclear-strike! Not unless you have building beneath the Earth, perfecting a culture that can survive without the sun or fresh water and been building it all underground for years just in case something like this happens!

If any of THAT sounds insane, then you're game for this joke of a "survival-guide".

--Matt

As the author states, this book fills an important niche in anyone's survival library. While some of the scenarios (aliens) may seem a bit outlandish, what is the key to survival, after all, but preparing for the unforeseen? If you only have five books on your survival "must-have" list, this should be one of them!

Having read (and rejected) many similar titles, I found this one worth adding to my library. As long as you remember that the 'days' referred to by the author can actually last from minutes to months, you will find the step-by-step guidelines useful. The sections on 'economic survival' are particularly noteworthy in light of recent events in Russia and Asia, and the ongoing Canadian currency fluctuations.

While this book sounds useful and interesting, it quickly departs the realm of practical advice and enters the world of fear and paranoia. While some of the basic advice is worthy (stock a 2 week food supply and plenty of water, keep cash on hand), most of the advice is given from a paranoid survivalist point of view with an amazing lack of good common sense. The advice for alien invasions is particularly entertaining. For those who still believe that the key to survival is to go native, a much more informative read is the Boy Scout Fieldbook.

While the book was thought provoking at times it quickly became very predictable in its senario approach. Forwarned is forarmed and preparedness is a good message, however, this book is virtually devoid of any useful how-to information. If you need help in thinking about possible disaster senarios this is the book for you. If you need practical knowledge in survival techniques and skills this isn't it.

Don't waste your money or time. I read everything in print, OCD that way. This belongs in the trash. As a disaster survivor, it would be about as helpful as using chopsticks to repair a car engine. It contains so many incorrect information that it's dangerous. Oh well...anyone can write a book. Helpful suggestions would have been nice: buy in bulk, get a vacuum sealer, stock up on water, purification tablets or a filter, multi-vitamins and antibiotics, have a first aid kit, batteries, a solar/crank radio w/shortwave, etc.