Originally posted by 44splfan:
Justbob- outstanding post thanks. If there are any additional books you consider usefull and "realistic" please share. I've seen my share of bullshit books over the years and have pretty much given up weeding through crap in order to glean some knowledge.
best,
Greg
Thanks for your kind words, and you are quite welcome.
Generally speaking, the "survival/survivalist" books leave a lot to be desired. Sorry, friends, but as much as we'd like to believe we are the love child born of the perfect union of
Red Dawn,
Rambo, and
The Road, it just ain't so.
READ READ READ READ. Movies and TV are made for movies and TV, not for real life reality, living.
Off the soap box. You asked for authors and titles. I'll be happy to annotate or answer any questions I can. I grabbed the following off the bookshelf as a start:
Boehm, Erich H.
We Survived: Fourten Histories of the Hidden and Hunted in Nazi Germany. Cambridge: Westview, ed. 2003. [EXCELLENT edge-of-seat reading]
Caine, Philip D.
Aircraft Down! Evading Capture in WWII Europe. Dulles: Barssey's, 1997. [Very good]
Cooke, Alistair.
The American Homefront: 1941-1942. London: Penguin, 2006. [EXCELLENT]
Egan, Timothy.
The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived The Great American Dustbowl. New York: Houghton, 2006. [Destined to become a CLASSIC must-read. MANY parallels to current US society. This is a book that makes you breathe deep and go "wow."]
Gonzales, Laurence.
Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why. London: Norton, 2003. [EXCELLENT and essential reading--VERY HIGHLY recommended]
Gross, Jan T.
Neighbors: The Destruction of the Jewish Community in Jedwabne, Poland. New York: Princeton, 2001. [Good, but best with a grain of salt]
Howarth, David.
We Die Alone: A WWII Epic of Escape and Endurance. Guilford: First Lyons, ed. 1999. [An AMAZING, CLASSIC must-read, Jack London on steroids. Really. Goes with Rawicz, below.]
Miller, William Ian.
The Mystery of Courage. Cambridge: Harvard, ed. 2002. [EXCELLENT in the vein of Hart's classic work
Strategy. ]
O'Donnell, Patrick K.
Operatives, Spies, and Saboteurs: The Unkown Story of WWII's OSS. New York: Citadel, 2004. [A fun, informative, and oftentimes very exciting read.]
Rawicz, Slavomir.
The Long Walk: The True Story Of A Trek To Freedom. Guilford: First Lyons, ed. 1997.
[An AMAZING, CLASSIC must-read; Jack London on steroids. Really. Goes with Howarth, above.]
--
Amazon usually has all of the above titles in stock if you want to pick them up on the cheap. MOST public libraries have an inter-library loan/search program and can get them if you ask!
If you are fortunate enough to find or know someone who lived through a war "in theater," do yourself a favor and LISTEN if they are willing to talk to you. Not just combat or "-war era" vets, but and especially CIVILIANS. These folks did not just survive, they persevered and prevailed and oftentimes under conditions that were worse than those experienced by the soldiers fighting the battles.
REPEAT AFTER ME: "I am not a Special Forces Soldier, Recon Marine, Navy SEAL, or Airman.
Combatants engage in combant; civilians endure it. Think about how they did that when you make your own preparations for whatever it is you are preparing for.
