Book Review: “The Book of Survival: Everyman’s Guide to Staying Alive and Handling Emergencies in the City, the Suburbs, and the Wild Lands Beyond” By Anthony Greenbank
If we went for a coffee today, perhaps we would talk about this book.
How did I get it?
This was in my grandfather’s collection. My Aunt invited my son and I to come and help her with some of his things, including going through his bookshelf. He was a devout Christian and most of his books were theological but he did have this one in there as well.
It piqued my interest because it’s completely outside of my normal range of topics and I was curious what kinds of situations people find themselves in and how they should act in order to survive.
What is it about?
The preface gives it away.
“This book is about how to survive. How to live through almost every conceivable accident or disaster that this world can produce.”
The chapter titles divide the content up into all the extremes:
Too Lonely
Too Crowded
Too Dry
Too Wet
Too Bright
Too Dark
Too Cold
Too Hot
Too Low
Too High
Too Fast
Too Slow
Too Full
Too Empty
It’s full of illustrations, drawings describe the various manoeuvres and tactics and strategies and even objects to make.
In chapter 2 “Too Crowded” after describing how to survive in a native village, he gives four recommendations for encountering creatures from outer space. He clarifies in parenthesis (Stepping From a Flying Saucer). The recommendations are:
Avoid rapid forceful movement
Use no shrill sounds
Breathe quietly
Avoid giving a direct menacing gaze.
And, now we all know…
The next page has a picture of how to avoid a charging bull.
There’s a section on how to survive a nuclear attack by building a makeshift bunker in your home. He really has thought of everything. The last chapter, “Too Empty” opens up with instructions on how to live off the land, what plants to eat and avoid, how to hunt or trap animals with makeshift materials.
His number one recommendation is not to panic, no matter the situation.
What did I think of it?
Well, no one wants to think of these things, car crashes, boats sinking, airplane crashes, people jumping you from the bushes and so forth.
But, information is power. I was grateful to have read it. I wouldn’t have purchased this book, but picking it up from my grandfather’s bookcase, knowing what a woodsman and a survivor he was, reading the pages printed in 1968, was a wonderful experience.
Conclusion:
Stuff is going to happen. It’s better to be prepared. But, at least, don’t panic. Think. Put all your effort into surviving.
How about you? Have you had any training for disasters? Have you survived a disaster? Would you be willing to tell the story?
soon!
andy
