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britterization's review against another edition
4.0
Super interesting. At first, I was like "this is just good emergency preparedness". And then they start talking about the guns. Oof.
An interesting read that I'd recommend to anyone who likes thinking about The End of the World As We Know It (TEOTWAWKI). 4 stars.
An interesting read that I'd recommend to anyone who likes thinking about The End of the World As We Know It (TEOTWAWKI). 4 stars.
agnexperience's review against another edition
4.0
Audio. I was really happy with the book, but you shouldn't go into it expecting a coherent metanarrative. It's more like one guy's apocalypse themed bucket list travelogue. As that thing, it's mostly a success. I like that it took an inquisitive approach, but called bs where needed. You can probably find similar and better stories of the same places elsewhere, but this is a neat package of everything from religious nuts to missile silo luxury shelters to fan conventions to prepper charities.
The title is somewhat misleading though - I would say half or maybe two thirds of the book is devoted to preppers in the narrower sense of the term.
I guess I'll now head out to get some booze for when the bartering starts up.
The title is somewhat misleading though - I would say half or maybe two thirds of the book is devoted to preppers in the narrower sense of the term.
I guess I'll now head out to get some booze for when the bartering starts up.
nickimags's review
5.0
This was such a interesting listen and one that ending up surprising me, in a really good way. I thought it would be a fun book as I don’t really know anything about American Preppers/ Survivalists, save for what crops up in the media, films and books. You know Rambo types who are really wacky and paranoid willing to kill anyone who comes near them?
Maybe it’s because I was a teenager in the 1980s and remember the very real threat of WW3, that I’m quite blasé about the threat of nuclear war and the end of the world. I remember having nightmares at the time and was very anxious about what was going on between the Kremlin and the Whitehouse. Even though there’s been sabre rattling between Trump and Kim Jong-un recently it doesn’t feel as real as it did back in the 80s.
Some of the groups the author met were so paranoid about the end of the world in some form that they have regular practice drills with their families and animals so they’ll be ready when it happens. These groups are also convinced that the government will have something to do with the end that they’ll need to arm themselves to stay safe.
There were other groups who were keen to prepare in the event of natural disasters and not relying on the government to help them out. This seemed very sensible and not at all paranoid so definitely breaking the stereotypes.
I also enjoyed listening to the chapter about climate change. I initially thought I might skip this as I thought it would be a very depressing chapter but actually it wasn’t.
Living on an island covered in WW2 bunkers from the Nazi Occupation, the chapter about the doomsday bunkers of the rich and famous was rather strange. Why anyone would want to live in an re-furbished ex government cold war bunker I don’t know, but I guess if you’re filthy rich what else are you going to spend your money on?
Eric Michael Summerer a new-to-me narrator was perfect for this audiobook, making it sound like it really was the author reading his own book. I will definitely be seeking out more audiobooks read by him in the future.
I thoroughly recommend this audiobook if you enjoy nonfiction with a quirky subject.
Thanks so much to Hope Roy at Tantor Media for my digital review copy.
Maybe it’s because I was a teenager in the 1980s and remember the very real threat of WW3, that I’m quite blasé about the threat of nuclear war and the end of the world. I remember having nightmares at the time and was very anxious about what was going on between the Kremlin and the Whitehouse. Even though there’s been sabre rattling between Trump and Kim Jong-un recently it doesn’t feel as real as it did back in the 80s.
Some of the groups the author met were so paranoid about the end of the world in some form that they have regular practice drills with their families and animals so they’ll be ready when it happens. These groups are also convinced that the government will have something to do with the end that they’ll need to arm themselves to stay safe.
There were other groups who were keen to prepare in the event of natural disasters and not relying on the government to help them out. This seemed very sensible and not at all paranoid so definitely breaking the stereotypes.
I also enjoyed listening to the chapter about climate change. I initially thought I might skip this as I thought it would be a very depressing chapter but actually it wasn’t.
Living on an island covered in WW2 bunkers from the Nazi Occupation, the chapter about the doomsday bunkers of the rich and famous was rather strange. Why anyone would want to live in an re-furbished ex government cold war bunker I don’t know, but I guess if you’re filthy rich what else are you going to spend your money on?
Eric Michael Summerer a new-to-me narrator was perfect for this audiobook, making it sound like it really was the author reading his own book. I will definitely be seeking out more audiobooks read by him in the future.
I thoroughly recommend this audiobook if you enjoy nonfiction with a quirky subject.
Thanks so much to Hope Roy at Tantor Media for my digital review copy.
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