The world has changed a lot very quickly. Many of us are facing days, even weeks, stuck at home with social minimal contact except for immediate family. It can be scary, but history shows us that humankind comes together and helps each other survive in times like these.
I’ve put together a list of 10 books that all tell survival stories – true ones! May they give you encouragement in theses times!
This book is one of the how-to manuals for preparedness and it is specifically written for moms. The subtitle says it all: How to Prepare Your Family for Everyday Disasters and Worst-Case Scenarios. The Survival Mom covers water, sanitation, food storage, what to prepare in your home, dealing with power outages, security, finances and evacuating. There are tips, lists and checklists on every topic and there are even lists of resources in the back.
Read the full review here.
We have seen with our own eyes or on the news the unthinkable scenarios of terrorist attacks, earthquakes, fires and tsunamis. Is there a way to know how you personally would react in these situations? How can you train yourself to give you the best chance of survival? In The Unthinkable, journalist Amanda Ripley investigated how humans responded to major disasters and what they did that gave them the ability to survive. She looks at the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, hurricanes, being a hostage, a stampede, a school shooting and a plane crash all while exploring one particular factor that aided in people’s survival.
Why do some people survive and others perish after experiencing the same set of circumstances? Why do some people walk out of a jungle after a plane crash and others sit and die? Author Laurence Gonzales digs deep into these questions and provides lessons in Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies and Why. He looks at specific cases to examine scientifically some reasons people tend to survive. His motivation stems from his father’s own survival of both a military plane crash and being a prisoner of war. Maybe survivalism can be passed down through the genes.
Read the full review here.
A blizzard almost like no other hit the U.S. prairie on Jan. 12, 1888, and by the next morning, hundreds perished. David Laskin weaves the true tale through the eyes of those who lived on the prairie and those tasked to forecast the weather. Even the atmospheric conditions had to work in just a certain way to produce a storm that was upon people in mere minutes – they went from enjoy a day where a light jacket would do to not being able to see a few yards away. One of the worst tragedies of the storm was that it hit when many children had just been released from school. Many never made it home and that’s why it’s called The Children’s Blizzard.
Read the full review here.
On May 31, 1889, water poured over and broke through a dam releasing water that would damage a countryside and kill thousands of people – the Johnstown Flood. It had been a wet spring and there was a lot of rain released by a strange and powerful storm the night before. However, the dam should have had drainage pipes and should have been managed by the South Fork club members who used the lake behind the dam as a personal retreat space. While nature played its part, the decisions made by the club while rebuilding the dam were the reason there was so much damage and destruction.
Read the full review here.
The Great Quake by Henry Fountain
“Of the thousands upon thousands of earthquakes that happen around the world every year – from imperceptible tremors to powerful shakers like the one that hit Lituya Bay – roughly one in sixteen occurs in Alaska. That makes the state one of the most quake-intensive places on the planet.”
On March 27, 1964, an earthquake rattled Alaska for five minutes. The 9.2 magnitude earthquake killed 139 people and literally changed the landscape of much of the state. However, it also changed the scientific community by finally proving that tectonic plates and not just faults can cause earthquakes. The story is told in The Great Quake.
Read the full review here.
It is amazing what a person can survive. During World War II, the Allies used Greenland as a stopping point across the ocean for refueling. Several small bases were established across the island and one Coast Guard ship helped patrol the coast. If the Axis were able to establish a foothold on the enormous ice-covered island, they would be within flying distance of New York. It was a crucial piece of land, but unforgiving. When a cargo ship crashed in Greenland, search and rescue teams activated to seek out the crew in hopes of finding survivors. However, one of the search and rescue planes also crashes with nine men aboard who all survive the crash. Planes then take off when they can to try and find both planes in Frozen in Time.
Read the full review here.
The sinking of the Titanic was avoidable, but the loss of life that night is tragic. The details of that fateful night have been passed on by survivors and compiles in the book A Night to Remember. Released in 1955, just 43 years after the sinking in 1912, the book tells the tale chronologically. The sinking changed the way ships communicated and how society worked in so many ways. It is a historical event that needs to be remembered by all generations.
Read the full review here.
In 1986, Reactor Four at the Chernobyl Nuclear Plant near the Ukraine exploded. Radiation poured out everywhere – sky, ground, underground. It was a disaster that no one prepared for and no one wanted to deal with. The USSR had a face it needed to present to the public and the world may not have known for a long time what really happened except that radiation traveled into Europe and was detected by sensors and traced back to the USSR. They eventually had to reach out after their attempts to fix the reactor and their own men failed. The story is told in Midnight in Chernobyl.
Read the full review here.
Elie Weisel was taken with his father to a concentration camp when he was 15. His father was a leader in their village and even though they had some warnings in the two years leading up to their capture, they couldn’t believe it would happen to them. At first, they couldn’t leave their village. Then people were sent away on trains. Then they were moved to the ghetto in their village. And, then, they were taken away. Wiesel tells his story in Night.
Read the full review here.
Have you read any of these books? What book do you think would help you most in these times? Share in the comments!