Customer Reviews

Life After Doomsday

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is THE best book on the subject of Nuclear war and other major disasters I have ever read. Dr. Clayton walks you through everything nuclear, from effects of air bursts, ground bursts, EMP, to every other nuclear topic imaginable. While famous for its nuclear information, this book is writen as a primer to surviving ANY disaster. Our Motto here at Alpha Group is(as you know) "It doesn't matter what causes the situation, you should be prepared to survive it". This book fits perfectly with that philosophy.

I consider this book one of the "MUST HAVE" books in any survival library. Not only does this book contain fantastic and interesting reading, but with its dozens of charts, lists, drawings and photos, this book serves as an excellent reference on surviving ANY major disaster. It is one of the few reference books I keep in my personal bookshelf beside the computer. When I read this book for the first time I was amazed by what I THOUGHT I knew. I was VERY wrong in many of my beliefs. Even the US government used Dr. Clayton's research to revise their policies in some areas.

Chapters covered include:

It's a disaster

Everything you ever wanted to know about nuclear war

To flee or not to flee

Home sweet hole

Nobody makes housecalls anymore

and MANY others that will keep you reading, and more importantly, will keep you alive no matter what the disaster.

This book was published during the nuclear arms race of the Carter and Reagan years, when the prospect of nuclear war looked much worse than it does now. Still...with the Y2K bug looming and countries like India and Pakistan now possessing the Bomb, you owe it to yourself to have a copy of this, "just in case". Besides covering the possible effects of nuclear war, it also covers a large variety of natural and man-made disasters, from floods to hurricanes to a financial crash to nuclear power plant accidents. Includes information on do-it-yourself emergency medicine, gardening and food storage, and shelter, that could be applicable to any number of potential disasters, not just nuclear war. What I like best about this book is it provides all this information without even a hint of the right-wing extremist politics that often infests other survivalist literature (the political slant here if anything seems to be closer to that of _The Mother Earth News_). As companion books to this I would highly recommend the _Foxfire_ books on traditional southern Appalachian skills, Cresson Kearny's _Nuclear War Survival Skills_, and David Werner's _Where There Is No Doctor_.

This book is a great beginning on understanding the logic of preparedness and the fundamentals of survival. The information is still current and the author's assesment of what a nuclear war might really be like is the single best feature of the book. I did not believe it until a read the same information from the Office of Technology Assesment [U.S. Goverment Publication] "Nuclear War; Three Scenarios"

Bruce Clayton's cold war vintage survival classic, Life After Doomsday, still makes worthwhile reading in the age of terrorist threats, North Korean ballistic missiles, Iranian nukes, and germ warfare. While some of the specific information, such as the location of counterforce targets (US missile and bomber bases)is out-dated, much of the insight remains valid. For the generation born after 1980, the book provides absolutely priceless perspective on the meaning of "The Cold War" and the risks faced by civilian and military alike during that era. The prospect of global nuclear war, a constant in the Reagan years, puts today's small scale terrorist threats into an entirely different perspective.

In fact Clayton remains one of the most concise, intelligent, and useful sources for any individual, family or group contemplating the dangers of contemporary life. It is a shame that Dr. Clayton, to date, has not applied his energy, intellect and unique insight to updating his work with information addressing the changes in the threat/probabilities along with the advances in technology useful in survival situations. It has been almost 25 years, the world has changed dramatically and we have had some new experiences from which to draw lessons. Come on Dr. Clayton, how about it! Until the 2nd edition is published, this is still about the best general source for contemporary survival advice available.

This is one of the best books on surviving disasters. The information is very well written, and covers all aspects of staying alive, and self sufficient in different scenarios. I enjoyed reading this book for its entertainment, and informative qualities.

If you are concerned about the possibility of any type of malfeasance befalling you and your loved ones this is the one of the first books you should read. It will give you a good background on how to deal with many issues you need to cover in order to survive: food & storage, selecting seeds and storage, planting, decontamination of people, food, & water. Security in the home, while in transit, defense of a fixed position, and things people often forget, like morale and fire safety, protecting communication devices from EMP.

The book even contains instructions on building air filters and pumps, and even Geiger Counters and Dose meters from house hold items. A must have for people concerned about the turbulent nature of the world today, or intellectuals who in joy learning for learning sake, this book is a must have for any collection!

It would be difficult to write a better all purpose survival manual. The author understands that preparing for one emergency somewhat prepares you for them all. He focuses on the practical and doesn't get immersed in the arcana of combat firearms or sidetracked into politics. I'd love to see a revised edition but the principles he outlines will be good forever.

I was disappointed to find this book copywrited 1980 making the information at least 32 years old. The hints and diagrams for digging holes probably can't be improved upon but technology issues and shielding for EMP etc could use a lot of updating. I regret this purchase and I'm sure better info is free on line. I gave it one star only to show I didn't overlook that area.

I thought this was the do-all-end-all book when it came to doomsday.
But like alot of things in my youth, the glimmer faded.
This book is very dated (note author states the purchase of an HK 91 will only cost $500.00. Gunbroker price is $2000.00+ used.)
Apart from pricing issues the author fails to recognized in the event of a nuclear war most likely incomming multi-war head ICBM would be of the air bust variety, thus limiting the great amounts of nuclear fallout the autyhor states would be present.
All in all a good read. I'd look for more current applicable survival guides. Worth the price of a used copy.

Interesting read, lots of information, a little dated though, written in 1981 and is more focused on nuclear bombs going off rather than anything else, not too bad.

Bruce Clayton's book was written during 1979 not too many years after Nixon frightened us with his threat - "I can go in to my office and pick up the telephone and in twenty-five minutes 70 million people will be dead"p15. Clayton's book was published in 1980 during the end of Carter's Presidency. Ronald Reagan's lot had been stirring up American fears of the "Red Scare", while Ed Clark's message of liberty was smothered by Demopublican independent John Andersen whose presidential campaign preserved the Demopublican one-party system. I purchased this book in 1980 while stationed on Shemya Island, where we watched the Soviets decay from their own corruption. It was difficult for me to take Clayton's fears on nuclear conflict seriously because the Soviets were technologically a joke!

Having said that, this was a well-written book IF there ever was to be a global nuclear conflict. And with Adolf Bush today playing lapdog to his British bosses, it is not beyond possibility that the Benedict Arnold will lob a few "limited" nuclear warheads around the globe on behalf of American-powered British empire. Clayton's book will be useful to those starving thirdworlders unfortunate to live atop black gold (oil) or opium fields. Clayton's survival information could help an Afghan (who don't even have a hot-air balloon let alone an air force!) to survive British or American nuclear strikes.

Clayton is an ecologist whose PhD research took him to Montana. He wrote "Since I was doing field research in an area liberally sprinkled with Minuteman missile silos, it was not long before my interests expanded to include the ecological consequences of a full scale thermonuclear war"(pix). He pooh-poohs the idea that nuclear conflict will destroy the earth 300 times over; in fact, he says this is all fantasy! There WILL be survivors, whether they intended to survive or not. And he believes that it is best to prepare for survival ("it is almost unavoidable"px) rather than muddle through it like the bookish bank teller (played by Burgess Meredith) in The Twilight Zone episode "Time Enough At Last" (1959).

Clayton's book contains 8 chapters with a preface and 7 appendices. The chapters are "It's a Disaster", "Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Nuclear War", "To Flee or Not to Flee", "Home Sweet Hole", "A Loaf of Bread, A Jug of Wine, and Chow", "Nobody Makes Housecalls Anymore", "To Have and To Hold", and "Wake Me When It's Over". The appendices are "Nuclear Target Areas Within the United States", "Fallout Pattern Data", "Expedient Shelter Construction", "The Kearny Air Pump", "Supplementary Medical Information", "Special Radiological Information", and "The Kearny Fallout meter".

Clayton's book reveals that nuclear conflict is possible because survival is unavoidable - that alone is incentive enough to read this book. The turncoats in Washington are itching to put Clayton's hypothesis to the test.