You can download this book here. In my mind, this is THE classic book on survival and prepping for those concerned with surviving a nuclear conflict. For while the author considers other types of disasters--local, regional, or national--the emphasis in the book is on convincing the reader that they could, indeed, survive with proper planning, and then goes about the basics of that planning. An running approximately 180 pages, it isn't a long read, either.
The book is split into a Preface, in which he explains what motivated him to write the book, followed by 8 chapters and several appendices.
Chapter 1, "It's a Disaster!" goes over several historically common types of regional or national disasters--famine, pandemic, natural disasters--religious disasters (i.e., the Apocalypses), man-made disasters, resource depletion, political unrest and terrorism, and, finally, good ol' "shall we play a game" thermonuclear war. Chapter 2 delves more deeply into nuclear war and its effects, and is probably as good a primer on the topic as you will read.
Chapter 3, "To Flee or Not To Flee" discusses likely targets during a nuclear war as well as going into a greater discussion of fallout and some general patterns of fallout so that you are aren't fleeing one area only to move into another that is going to be heavily impacted by fallout. He finishes a chapter with a series of questions to help you decide if you need to move and where to move based on your assessment of what type of disaster you face, your willingness/ability to move, and so forth. This latter portion is not just for nuclear attack, but also covers hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquake risks, and so on. One thing to keep in mind when reading this chapter is that the stocks of both Russian and American missiles and bombs are much smaller today than when the book was written, and the yields have also fallen. The Russian's primary ICBM today is the R-36M2 Voevoda (SS-18 Mod 5) which can carry up to 10 MIRVs with yields of 500 to 750 kT each. Basically, it was determined that it was more destructive (at least against cities) to use multiple smaller warheads impacting in overlapping patterns than to use one giant multi-megaton warhead. Consequently, the blast, radiation and thermal effects will be over a larger area than would be predicted with a single megaton detonation.
Chapter 4, "Home Sweet Hole" is all about protection from the initial gamma radiation blast, thermal effects, and overpressure caused by a nuclear explosion, as well as the subsequent fallout. It has some basic ideas on shelters from expensive, purpose built shelters, to expedient blast and fallout shelters. It also discusses using an airplane or sailboat as a refuge during the attack and afterward. Finally, it addresses some special considerations as far as clothing, gas masks/filters, etc.
Chapter 5, "A Loaf of Bread, a Jug of Wine, and Chow", is all about storing or growing food and storing and purifying water, and related topics. Not much has changed here other than there are lot of specific prepper oriented products available today.
Chapter 6, "Nobody Makes Housecalls Anymore", is on first aid and self-help medical care, including supplies to stock up. Remember, even if you don't know how to use them, they are at least there should you find a doctor that could provide assistance to you or your family. Obviously a lot has happened over the past 20 years to address gun shot and other penetrating wound treatment in the field, so you definitely would want to augment what is in this book with some IFAK trauma kits.
Chapter 7, "To Have and to Hold", is a very basic review of how to make sure someone else doesn't come along and take what you have. This chapter is not intended for the gun geek or the person with combat experience, but a complete newbie. It was also written in the early 1980s. So his advice and recommendations may not match what you would recommend today. However, for a newbie, it is a good starting point. Also, he doesn't dance around with debating the different types of firearms: he has specific brands and models that he recommends. If I were to update the list today, I would probably suggest replacing the HK91 with a scoped AR10/AR308 from a reputable manufacturer, and the AR-180 with a 16-inch AR-15 style rifle from a reputable manufacturer and/or a bullpup in 5.56 with a red-dot and magnifier as well as a weapon light. I would ditch the folding stock and pistol grip on the shotgun and go with a standard stock, but stick a red dot and weapon light on it. And, much as I like the 1911 in .45 ACP, the handgun recommendation should be updated from a compact 1911 Commander to a Glock 19 in 9mm.
Chapter 8, "Wake Me When It's Over", is about what to do after the blast: leadership, shelter schedules, decontamination, sanitation, illumination and power, communication, etc.
The appendices are as follows:
- Appendix A: Nuclear Target Areas within the United States
- Appendix B: Fallout Pattern Data
- Appendix C: Expedient Shelter Construction (showing a couple trench style shelter that can easily constructed).
- Appendix D: The Kearney Air Pump (for ventilation in a shelter)
- Appendix E: Supplementary Medical Information (medical information specific to a nuclear attack)
- Appendix F: Special Radiological Information (radioactive decay and some methods to calculate how long to stay in your shelter)
- Appendix G: The Kearny Fallout Meter (plans on constructing an expedient fallout meter to measure radiation).
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