Books, literature and TV programmes

Grizzly 45

Maybe one for a sticky?
Obviously a wealth of litature out there on survivalism and prepardness.
I'd even include in this topic some SciFi and Alternative history books as they give you pause to think on "How would I deal with this situation?"

Sooo who have yez all read for ideas, philosophy on survivalism,manuals and what not?
Mine are ; Not a complete list by far.

The big Four.The what I belive to be the Founding Fathers of the survivalism movement from the 1960s
Kurt Saxon,Duncan Long,Mel Tappan,Ragnar Benson.
Loads of DIY books by those three,and Saxon has the most logical philosophy for survivalism,in using 19th century technology and process to springboard back into the 21st century.Ok a lot of American ideas and philosophy,Duncan Long was a serious firearms man,and the arsenal he suggests would put a Garda superintendant in the home for the bewilderd were you to suggest it.:eek::)

SAS survival manual Lofty Wiseman.Nuff said.

Survivalism authors,
Jerry Aherne [The survivalist seris,must read 1980s classic of America invaded by Russia.Laughable by any standards,but John Rourke was one cool dude!:)]
Willam Johnstone.The Ashes Trilogy... If you have heard of the "tri State " philosophy of Govt on some US survival groups.This is the whole explanation and concept.

Patriots or year 000 .James Wesley Rawles.Rawles runs a blog and survival board at the current time is well up on survivalism as well on a day to day basis.American slant on things.But the novel is well worth the read of the dynamics of running and maintaining a survival group.Wusses out a bit in the end,but a good read.

Atlas shrugged. Ayn Rand . More a philosophy for survivalists ,if you can stick the 1000 odd pages it is a pretty good story as well.Rand isnt very well known on this side of the Atlantic,and Randism as a political philosophical movement is usually dispraged by the media and left as a totally rightist nasty form of thought and govt,somwhere far right of the PDs and Nazis.All the more reason to read it then!:)
Simply put,it is what happens when the movers and shakers of society,eg the great inventors,financiers ,busisnessmen etc.Just up and quit and tell everyone in the unions and workers.OK you lot manage the show and disapper to start a new society somwhere in secret.

Alas! Babylon.Proably the oldest classic about survivalism and the quick decay of society post collapse.Well worth the read for the well read survivalist.:D

triskell

Grizzly 45 wrote: »

Survivalism authors,
Jerry Aherne [The survivalist seris,must read 1980s classic of America invaded by Russia.Laughable by any standards,but John Rourke was one cool dude!:)]

where would ye get a pair of Detonics combat masters now?.
Yeah a great read and don't forget the russian spy/ballerina:D:D

Grizzly 45

There you go for the Detonics @1250 usd:Dhttp://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=255934229
Right who could forget Natalia with her COP.357 magnum pistol??:D

H.O.T.A.S.

Fiction: One Second After by William R. Forstchen. Deals with EMP blast over the continental United Sates and the after effects

Reference: Soldiers Pocket Book, British Army Publication

Grizzly 45

H.O.T.A.S
Do you have a copy of it?Or a downloadable version??Been trying to get my hands on it for awhile.:(

BTW has anyone seen the Irish "survivor" film "100 mornings?"
Some say great film ,others say total rubbish.

Like to see it if anyone has a working link or a DVD I could borrow??

fodda

Grizzly if want a good read you will have to read the book by the man who started it all off. A man called John Christopher who wrote a book called "Death of Grass" i think in the 1950's. They made a film called "No blade of grass" around 1970 but it was poorly put together but still watchable.

I think all the survivor stuff is just a rehash of that book/film.

H.O.T.A.S.

Grizzly 45 wrote: »

H.O.T.A.S
Do you have a copy of it?Or a downloadable version??Been trying to get my hands on it for awhile.:(

BTW has anyone seen the Irish "survivor" film "100 mornings?"
Some say great film ,others say total rubbish.

Like to see it if anyone has a working link or a DVD I could borrow??

Have a copy but it's currently in Switzerland! I'll let you know when I get it back, it is available from iTunes Audiobook though

Grizzly 45

Seen it ,read it.[Book as usual is better]:).I think Alas! Babylon. Was actually the first of them all,not sure on that.:cool:

You are proably right ,as survivalism will obviously have to have the major catalyst of a disaster,be it whatever to give reason for the story.
However it is the situation that the people find themselves in,and how they handle it that is of intrest to me.As I try and project myself into the situation and figure out would I have done the same or not?Call it training without getting dirty.:)

ajhalpin

Read Rawles' Patriots last year. Great book and the website is great too. I have ordered his new book, Survivors, which is according to all accounts a much better novel than the first book.

If you haven't already seen it watch the TV series Jericho. I just finished watching the 1st and 2nd series box set. I think you can watch the whole first series on youtube.

Tabnabs

I've read a couple of "survivalism" style fiction books and they really leave me cold.

On the other hand, if you are interested in wilderness survival (or even just getting the skills) then I'd highly recommend Bushcraft: Outdoor Skills and Wilderness Survival by Mors Kochanski

Collins Gem - Food For Free as a first class reference book

and finally, get the little ones interested - I Love My World by Chris Holland

If you want survivalist stories, start with Boldness be my friend by Richard Pape, no theory, no supposition, just bitter experience.

Sticky_Fingers

fodda wrote: »

Grizzly if want a good read you will have to read the book by the man who started it all off. A man called John Christopher who wrote a book called "Death of Grass" i think in the 1950's. They made a film called "No blade of grass" around 1970 but it was poorly put together but still watchable.

I think all the survivor stuff is just a rehash of that book/film.

Thats a fantastic book as is "Wrinkle in the Skin", Christopher truly didn't hold out much hope for the nobility of man winning in the end.

I'd also like to add Earth Abides to the list of good books to read, pandemic sweeps the world and only a few people are left alive to rebuild. In a similar vein the first third of Stephen Kings "The Stand" is a great read until it goes all mystical and religious.

Grizzly 45

ajhalpin wrote: »

If you haven't already seen it watch the TV series Jericho. I just finished watching the 1st and 2nd series box set. I think you can watch the whole first series on youtube.

Jericho was great for the first season.Until CBS pulled it and survivalists from all over the US sent them literally thousands of paenuts.[From the last scene in the last episode of the first season:D.Watch it and you'll get why!] The second season was way too cobbled together and had gone moe into political comment without explaining WTF was going on in the World.It was a great pity,as I belive Jericho could have become a great training tool subconciously,if they had given them a problem every week to sort out as a town.

There is a new movie or seris coming out next season.Remenants.
From the trailers it looks very good.Massive solar flare hits Earth and wipes out 99% of our micro chipped world.No massive nukes or anything of the like.Just a world with no computors,micro processors etc.:eek:
It is then up to a street in suburban America to survive.
Hopefully it will be,as they have promised good things and have been complete Turkeys sometimes.Falling Skies being one.:(

If you like your survivalism fiction with a bit of horror try 48 by James Herbert.Sort of the Omega Man[The Charlie Heston version,not that Will Smith "I am Legend" rubbish:( ]set in 1948 London.

Domain ..If you read the Rats,Lair,this was the conclusion.Nuke war with a massive rat invasion,and a humourous chapter on DIY fallout shelter building,chemical toilets and dead cats.:D

For an Irish slant on things.The White Plauge by Frank Herbert[author of the Dune books].Herbert apprently was a survivalist too,and lived in Ireland awhile as well.
Renegade IRA kill a famous DNA professor s' wife and kids in a bomb blast in Dublin.He goes nuts and creates a plauge that only attacks and kills off women of Irish,UK and Libyan decent,and unleashes it on the world.
He then goes back to Ireland to watch its effects.Here he meets up by coincidence with a mute boy,the same renegare IRA man who killed his family and a priest.Together they are supposed to go to a labarotory in Killaloe where the last Irishwoman is alive in a decompression chamber of a diving center...[Ok suspend reality abit with this:D..As there are no diving centres in Killaloe.] If you can get over the wooden sterotypical "Begorrah and Bedad Sorr "Irish chacters of a 1980s stilt. It isnt a bad read of a post apocalyptic Irish countryside.

SafeSurfer

I'm really enjoying the new forum.
Wondering what your favourite post apocalyptic books and films are. What type of scenarios appeal to you most.

I enjoyed S.M. Stirling The Emberverse series about a "change" that happens rendering all electrical and combustion powered devices, as well as guns, useless.

This results in a scramble for survival with some interesting results.

Grizzly 45

There is already a thread titled Books,litature and TV seris.
But if we want to use both or merge?? Talk to the Mods..

Anyawys another good youtube find .
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUM0TOkNALg
National Geographic Disaster preppers 1to 4 episodes

As this should be done..IF you have huge amounts of cash to hand.:eek:
Yes it is AMERICAN!!! But hey they invented this lifestyle ...:)

Sticky_Fingers

Threads merged...

Highnoon

Got Cody Lundin's 2 books as my first 'prepper' type books before I even knew what the term meant. Was interested in being able look after myself should things go pear shaped. Caught a couple of his shows with on Discovery 'Duel Survival' with Dave Cantrell - enjoyable. Then got the Family preparedness handbook by Arthur T. Bradley (as I have a family). Mainly directed at Americans but interesting read.

More recently I'm reading 'Patriots' by Rawles and am less than impressed. far, far too focused on guns and ammo. More like a survival instructional than a novel which is what I wanted. I then have 'Lucifers hammer' next which has been getting many recommendations on the net.

Have been looking at self sufficiency books like those by John Seymour. Alot of work involved in that kind of thing but if I had a bit of land that would be the dream. Having said that you may need the guns and ammo of Rawles to keep all the hungry folk at bay should the shtf.

Would appreciate any other recommendations

Grizzly 45

Highnoon wrote: »

More recently I'm reading 'Patriots' by Rawles and am less than impressed. far, far too focused on guns and ammo. More like a survival instructional than a novel which is what I wanted. I then have 'Lucifers hammer' next which has been getting many recommendations on the net.

Remember Rawles is writing it for a US audience who have the guns&ammo and alot else, licked. Lucifers hammer..An old 70s classic,and should be on any survivalists bookshelf,along with Alas Babylon!

Have been looking at self sufficiency books like those by John Seymour. Alot of work involved in that kind of thing but if I had a bit of land that would be the dream. Having said that you may need the guns and ammo of Rawles to keep all the hungry folk at bay should the shtf.

More than likely...Or employ a Mercenary force[ahem..my future post TSHTF career move along with being an armourer:D] to gaurd it.

Books.www.rangerrick.com
The whole Ranger Ricks seris of books is well worth downloading for free.Hunt around the net they are out there for free.Covers everything on how to live out in the wilds as a unit.

If you can find it on Amazon.com
The Green berets books.
GB compass course.Great living in grubby times[WELL worth having ],and the GB's course in self defence. [Pathfinder publications].Written by ex US Green Berets of 'Nam vintage.

fenris

A list taken from the not very nice review section of "Survivors" - Rawles latest book on Amazon


***Survival Fiction***
- One Second After by William R. Forstchen
- Enemies Foreign and Domestic by Matthew Bracken
- Domestic Enemies: The Reconquista by Matthew Bracken
- Foreign Enemies And Traitors by Matthew Bracken
- The Road by McCarthy
- Lights Out by David Crawford
- Molon Labe! by Kenneth W. Royce
- Lucifer's Hammer by Niven and Pournelle
- Day by Day Armageddon by J. L. Bourne
- The Collapse by Stanfield (even with all the typos in 'The Collapse' that book blows this one out of the water)
- The Rift by Williams
- Unintended Consequences by Ross

***Survival/Preparedness Non-Fiction or How-To Related Books***
- The Boston Gun Bible by Kenneth Royce
- Boston on Surviving Y2K by Kenneth Royce (Yeah, I know Y2K didn't happen...still packed full of good info on preparedness).
- The Modern Survival Manual: Surviving the Economic Collapse - Fernando 'Ferfal' Aguirre
- Extreme Survival Almanac: Everything You Need to Know to Live Through a Shipwreck, Plane Crash, or Any Outdoor Crisis Imaginable by Reid Kincaid
- Civil War II by Chittum
- The Backyard Homestead by Carleen Madigan
- Total Resistance by H. Von Dach

krissovo

My Collection:
SAS survival handbook
Food for free, if you like this then get "Mushrooms" as well

I dont have many books on typical survival, most of mine were escape and evasion type books like Chris Ryan and his adventures in Iraq.

Post apocalyptic fiction:

The Old Man and the wasteland, Nick Cole. Only a small book and cost 0.88 cent on the kindle but a riveting read. Based 40 years after a series of terrorist nuclear events and some interesting points even if the end is a bit far fetched.

Zombie: White Flag of the dead, Joseph Talluto. Its a series of books that again is hard to put down as the storyline is very good. Its also a positive story unlike most zombie books where there is no chance of survival.

I will throw out there a very innovative book called Public Enemy Zero by Andrew Mayne. Again its a 0.88 cent kindle book but an amazing storyline. Not your normal zombies or storyline but very hard to put down.

Hibrion

On the self sufficiency side of things John Seymor's The New Complete Guide to Self Sufficiency is an absolute must for everyone:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/New-Complete-Book-Self-Sufficiency/dp/1405345101/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1322578706&sr=8-1

I can't tell you how much I've used this book. It is a treasure trove of information. It gives info on everything from growing veg, raising livestock, butchery, masonry, building, and even has a few nice recipes. The carrot cake is as easy a recipe you will find and absolutely delicious

Grizzly 45

Any of you remember this old BBC seris??
Done somtime around the 1970s.
There was a recent one made in 08/09 which was a jazzed up and complete rubbish new version with the same title.
Plauge wipes out the UK,etc etc.But worth the watch if even for the entertainment value as to thinking "what would I do" in their scenario.
The whole seris is on youtube.Found it got abit obsessive towards the end,but one of the original post TSHTF stories around.

www.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ak1SrFGXgA4

eth0

Grizzly 45 wrote: »

Any of you remember this old BBC seris??
Done somtime around the 1970s.
There was a recent one made in 08/09 which was a jazzed up and complete rubbish new version with the same title.
Plauge wipes out the UK,etc etc.But worth the watch if even for the entertainment value as to thinking "what would I do" in their scenario.
The whole seris is on youtube.Found it got abit obsessive towards the end,but one of the original post TSHTF stories around.

www.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ak1SrFGXgA4

I don't but how was the new one so much worse? In a modern day shtf people would have different problems, so these days its more important to have an inverter and enough batteries to pull a xbox360 and big tv for long enough for you to escape from your kids before their ADHD causes them to spontaneously combust whereas before they'd help you collect firewood, prepare food and other useful things

Grizzly 45

eth0 wrote: »

I don't but how was the new one so much worse? In a modern day shtf people would have different problems, so these days its more important to have an inverter and enough batteries to pull a xbox360 and big tv for long enough for you to escape from your kids before their ADHD causes them to spontaneously combust whereas before they'd help you collect firewood, prepare food and other useful things

Well watch the first version...and then come back and tell us why the second iversion is total crap!!:D The first version ran four seasons.The second struggled and died mercifully by end of season two!

Not having any kids,and frankly not worried about them either.I think it will be the best thing that will ever happen to the obese overprotected little lazy couch poatoes.Reward them with one hours a week Xbox for the best rat catcher,wood collector ,or the best foraged /stolen item brought in.
Soon get them moving!!:pac::pac:

colonel-yum-yum

An interesting short that I caught on TV a couple of nights ago.
Coming Up: Food on 4OD

In the near future, a catastrophic food crisis has led to the collapse of British society and the rise of extremism.

Kind of highlights (albeit slightly in the extreme) how economic collapse and a food shortage can change the whole dynamic of a country and its people.
start stocking up on super noodles now and you could be a king

Grizzly 45

Or as the post relating to that on TSHTFschool.com pointed out.
You will have criminals from both sides of the law showing up to relive you of your wealth,if you let it be known you have stuff.:(
One in uniforms with guns stating its for the common good.The other in some sort of uniforms and guns stating, if they bother,"cos we can so dere!"

Tabnabs

Some useful books on foraging here http://www.wildforage.co.uk/

First off, have to agree, this thread deserves sticky status!

More books come to mind than is practical to write down, but a few that deserve mention:

- "The SAS Survival Handbook" by John Wiseman. A seminal book that every Scout wanted back in the day. I carry a Collins Gem copy around in my knapsack (more for handy reading material than anything else).

- "Food for Free" by Richard Mabey. Another seminal book, again I've a Collins Gem copy.

- "Hedgerow" & "Edible Seashore" by John Wright. Lovely books in the "River Cottage Handbook" series. These are great, informative reads, and the production quality is great.

- "The Moneyless Man" by Mark Boyle. Ok, I don't agree with a lot of what the guy says (he's a vegan!) but I do agree with even more. In fact he articulates many things that I've always thought anyway. It's well worth a read.

Thats just a quick list, more to follow!

Druss.

http://paddy-halligan.blogspot.com
http://twitter.com/#!/druss_rua

bonniebede

Just watched day of the triffids, newer beeb version with Eddie izzard as the bad guy (i mean the bad guy other than the triffids) (though that could have been fun, eddie izzard as a triffid...:D)

Anyway i digress.

Enjoyable watch, competently acted and put together, made the triffids more active and scary than the book.

However, one major complaint as a sci fi fan and lover of the Wyndham original.

One of the main themes in the book is how the pressure of the extreme situation makes people re-evaluate societal mores around cooperation and particularly family structure. This was pretty much entirely abandoned in this edition in favour of a bit more gung-ho action adventure plot lines.

Pity. It was the philosophical reflection in the book that lifted it out of the ordinary.

JuliusCaesar

Grizzly 45 wrote: »

Any of you remember this old BBC seris??
Done somtime around the 1970s.
There was a recent one made in 08/09 which was a jazzed up and complete rubbish new version with the same title.
Plauge wipes out the UK,etc etc.But worth the watch if even for the entertainment value as to thinking "what would I do" in their scenario.
The whole seris is on youtube.Found it got abit obsessive towards the end,but one of the original post TSHTF stories around.

www.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ak1SrFGXgA4

Link isn't working for me - what is the title? Think I might have seen the first few episodes of the more recent one, till it got yawn yawn way too predictable and I gave up on it. Might be more watchable on youtube.

Wiki does a list of apocalyptic fiction. Must start my own list as none of my favourites are on it, except for Doris Lessing.
Jim Crace's The Pesthouse.
Cormac McCarthy's The Road.
PD James's The Children of Men.
Alex Scarrow - Last Light. And its sequel, Afterlight.

bonniebede

JuliusCaesar wrote: »

Link isn't working for me - what is the title? Think I might have seen the first few episodes of the more recent one, till it got yawn yawn way too predictable and I gave up on it. Might be more watchable on youtube.

Wiki does a list of apocalyptic fiction. Must start my own list as none of my favourites are on it, except for Doris Lessing.
Jim Crace's The Pesthouse.
Cormac McCarthy's The Road.
PD James's The Children of Men.
Alex Scarrow - Last Light. And its sequel, Afterlight.

The series you are looking for is 'Survivor' and the whole thing is on youtube. The acting is fine, so apart from the somewhat low budget production, it actually is a very enjoyable series. If you grew up a fan of things like doctor who, that classic 1970's BBc production look won't put you off.
It is much much better than the remake, not surprisingly. Oh, it also has the scariest theme music ever. I don't know why it gives me the shivers but it really does.:eek:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ak1SrFGXgA4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ak1SrFGXgA4

Scarrows last light was excellent, but its sequel is still sitting unfinished on the shelf.

It drives me mad when plots are driven by obvious stupidities. For example, here, despite the fact that the whole of Britain is now largely unpopulated, the plot is being driven by the premise that the antagonist is incredibly devious, and has managed to set up a feudal structure, overcoming and subduing the army personal around him, and knows also that they are running out of food, but still does not see the point of moving to the countryside and doing some more farming. THat is just stupid.!!!

ShadowFox

Here is a book with some good lists and ideas to help make your own lists