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Nuclear War Survival Books
The subject of surviving a nuclear war has been around for a long time now. Some preparedness types believe the scenario to be of primary concern, others discount the possibility, and others fall somewhere in between. If nothing else, preparing for a nuclear exchange sets the bar very high indeed for preparedness. With that in mind, I present a list of books that should help one towards that end. The list is not exhaustive, but rather a primer. And I've included a one to five rating in the form of the radiation symbol (☢).

Title: Life After Doomsday
Author: Dr. Bruce Clayton
Publication Year: 1980. Reissued in 1992.
Rating: ☢☢☢☢☢
Comments: I had to recommend only one book on the topic, this would probably be it. It covers the science behind atomic war and how to prepare. While some sections are a bit dated (e.g., communications), overall the information is as pertinent as when it was published. The book is available from many online vendors and there are PDF versions floating around on the web.

Title: The Effects of Nuclear Weapons
Author: Samuel Glasstone, Editor
Publication Year: 1977
Rating: ☢☢☢☢
Comments: This is a highly technical, fact-packed guide to how atomic weapons work, their characteristics and, most importantly, the effects. While, naturally, a bit dry and technical, it is not to be missed. It is available online for free and in printed.

Title: How to Survive the H Bomb and Why
Author: Pat Frank
Publication Year: 1962
Rating: ☢☢
Comments: This book was written by the same author as Alas, Babylon and it covers survival in a nuclear exchange. It is a bit dated and dwells on public policy more than individual survival. It is also long out of print. However, if you can find a copy, it is still worth reading.

Title: Urban Alert!: Emergency Survival for City Dwellers
Author: Mary Ellen Clayton and Dr. Bruce Clayton
Publication Year: 1982
Rating: ☢☢☢
Comments: This text was written by the wife of the author of Life After Doomsday and, as such, covers some of the same ground. It is, however, focuses on the city-dweller's preparedness plans. While out of print, it is available in the used market.

Title: Nuclear War Survival Skills
Author: Cresson H. Kearney
Publication Year: 1987. Reissued 2006
Rating: ☢☢☢☢☢
Comments: This is another classic printed towards the end of the Cold War era that covers atomic war survival. This one, along with Clayton's work, is one of the best comprehensive nuclear survival texts. It is available in PDF and in print.

Title: U.S. Armed Forces Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Survival Manual
Author: Captain Dick Couch, USN
Publication Year: 2003
Rating: ☢☢☢☢
Comments: The title sort of says it all. It is a solid overview of the three major forms of weapons of mass destruction

And there are a ton of various manuals published by the Federal Civil Defense Administration and related. If there is any interest in those and topic-specific guides (e.g., fallout shelters), I'll put together a listing (with links) for that as well.

Anyway, I hope these help with your preps. Cheers friends. :)

 
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Thanks for the list, appreciated.

Personally, in pretty sure I'd prefer to be smoking a camel outside...at ground zero just before one popped off, than "surviving a nuclear war".

***If I recall correctly there was a mini-series in the ?90's. "The day after tomorrow..." Which summed up "surviving" a nuclear war well enough for me.

Now granted, some type of "limited nuclear exchange" or a terrorist type event would be an entirely different thought proccess.

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***Edit: had to do some google foo. The mini series I was thinking on was a TV movie titled "The Day After". From a WIKI blip on it-

"...The Day After is an American television film that first aired on November 20, 1983, on the ABC television network. More than 100 million people watched the program during its initial broadcast.[1] It is currently the highest-rated television film in history.[2]..."
 
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baIjcTx.png
Nuclear War Survival Books
The subject of surviving a nuclear war has been around for a long time now. Some preparedness types believe the scenario to be of primary concern, others discount the possibility, and others fall somewhere in between. If nothing else, preparing for a nuclear exchange sets the bar very high indeed for preparedness. With that in mind, I present a list of books that should help one towards that end. The list is not exhaustive, but rather a primer. And I've included a one to five rating in the form of the radiation symbol (☢).

Title: Life After Doomsday
Author: Dr. Bruce Clayton
Publication Year: 1980. Reissued in 1992.
Rating: ☢☢☢☢☢
Comments: I had to recommend only one book on the topic, this would probably be it. It covers the science behind atomic war and how to prepare. While some sections are a bit dated (e.g., communications), overall the information is as pertinent as when it was published. The book is available from many online vendors and there are PDF versions floating around on the web.

Title: The Effects of Nuclear Weapons
Author: Samuel Glasstone, Editor
Publication Year: 1977
Rating: ☢☢☢☢
Comments: This is a highly technical, fact-packed guide to how atomic weapons work, their characteristics and, most importantly, the effects. While, naturally, a bit dry and technical, it is not to be missed. It is available online for free and in printed.

Title: How to Survive the H Bomb and Why
Author: Pat Frank
Publication Year: 1962
Rating: ☢☢
Comments: This book was written by the same author as Alas, Babylon and it covers survival in a nuclear exchange. It is a bit dated and dwells on public policy more than individual survival. It is also long out of print. However, if you can find a copy, it is still worth reading.

Title: Urban Alert!: Emergency Survival for City Dwellers
Author: Mary Ellen Clayton and Dr. Bruce Clayton
Publication Year: 1982
Rating: ☢☢☢
Comments: This text was written by the wife of the author of Life After Doomsday and, as such, covers some of the same ground. It is, however, focuses on the city-dweller's preparedness plans. While out of print, it is available in the used market.

Title: Nuclear War Survival Skills
Author: Cresson H. Kearney
Publication Year: 1987. Reissued 2006
Rating: ☢☢☢☢☢
Comments: This is another classic printed towards the end of the Cold War era that covers atomic war survival. This one, along with Clayton's work, is one of the best comprehensive nuclear survival texts. It is available in PDF and in print.

Title: U.S. Armed Forces Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Survival Manual
Author: Captain Dick Couch, USN
Publication Year: 2003
Rating: ☢☢☢☢
Comments: The title sort of says it all. It is a solid overview of the three major forms of weapons of mass destruction

And there are a ton of various manuals published by the Federal Civil Defense Administration and related. If there is any interest in those and topic-specific guides (e.g., fallout shelters), I'll put together a listing (with links) for that as well.

Anyway, I hope these help with your preps. Cheers friends. :)

Ah yes, sometimes I miss the Cold War just a little. Zombies & terrorists? Kid stuff! H-bombs? Now we're talkin'! I'm dating myself, but I've read all but one of those books, and two of them are on my bookshelf right now.
 
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"...The Day After is an American television film that first aired on November 20, 1983, on the ABC television network. More than 100 million people watched the program during its initial broadcast.[1] It is currently the highest-rated television film in history.[2]..."

For whatever it is worth, the 1983 The Day After is available on YouTube. Just thought I'd pass it along.


Ah yes, sometimes I miss the Cold War just a little. Zombies & terrorists? Kid stuff! H-bombs? Now we're talkin'! I'm dating myself, but I've read all but one of those books, and two of them are on my bookshelf right now.

Come to think of it, I reckon I dated myself with this thread too.:s0090:
 
One thing I know about nukes... anybody drops one on any of mine, they better hope to God they get me in the opening salvo, because with my loved ones aced out the only thing I'll have left to live for is making everyone from the LT who pulled the string up to the buttf*** who gave the order die the longest, slowest, most horrifically painful and gruesome deaths my exceedingly fertile creative imagination can devise.

Hear that, Vlad? That's right, push the button and I'm comin' for you PERSONALLY, motherf***er... and when I'm through you'll be BEGGING for the mercy of a feetfirst trip into your old hangout the Dynamo Sports Club's basement incinerator.
 
As The Day After was referenced, and the film posted by yours-truly, in this thread, I thought this video belongs here. It is a panel discussion produced after the airing of the aforementioned television movie. It was hosted by Ted Koppel, and featured contributions from Dr. Carl Sagan, Henry Kissinger, Elie Wiesel, Robert McNamara, Gen. Brent Scowcroft, and William F. Buckley, Jr. I thought I'd pass it along in case it is of interest to others.

 
As The Day After was referenced, and the film posted by yours-truly, in this thread, I thought this video belongs here. It is a panel discussion produced after the airing of the aforementioned television movie. It was hosted by Ted Koppel, and featured contributions from Dr. Carl Sagan, Henry Kissinger, Elie Wiesel, Robert McNamara, Gen. Brent Scowcroft, and William F. Buckley, Jr. I thought I'd pass it along in case it is of interest to others.


I was in high school, then, and I remember watching both The Day After and the debate that followed.
Damn I'm old, but at least I'm still here.
 
We must understand that probably, (certainly?) ALL the ANTI WAR NUKE MOVIES were made by Commies to get us American Patriots to just give up, roll over and surrender to the Triumphant Commies.

The reality is that most of us would die. No way around it. But ... a few of us would survive practically any global thermal nuclear war. We live in one of the best places on earth to survive a big nuke war. Even a huge one.

But ... surviving the aftermath would be problematical. No matter where you go, there you are. Unless a whole small farming community pulled together, most folks would quickly or slowly starve or get killed off.

There you have it. Surviving the nukes is easy if you know what to do. We do. But, (again) surviving the aftermath would be very difficult. Too many hungry folks. Too many deer rifles. Yuck and Yikes!! :(

43N, 123W. Thereabouts.
 
I was in high school, then, and I remember watching both The Day After and the debate that followed.
Damn I'm old, but at least I'm still here.

I was still in grade school then, so I'm slightly younger, but still of the same generation. My parents deliberately lived well of the beaten path for a variety of reasons, some of which for what we'd call preparedness reasons, so I didn't actually see the film until later as there was no TV reception at our home. I do recall our neighbors from about five miles down the road and my grandmother who lived in town being dramatically impacted by the airing though.

For a little bit of levity, after, you know, a discussion of the end of all human life on Earth, commercials from the airing of the referenced picture:


Many of the commercials are quaint and some are unintentionally hilarious. The Commodore 64 ads appealed to this long-time IT professional, and by that, well, I also mean confirmed computer nerd. Cheer friends.
 
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Kids!!! I was in my mid thirtys and had a kid eight years old! I wasn't impacted much by the movie. I had been into survivalism for years! As soon as the rancher blundered into his barn and got himself greased, I lost interest. Dumb movie, dumb move, dumb writing! Meh! :cool:

IMG_0848.JPG
 
If we are dealing with a nuclear holocaust, I don't want to live. If it's just a single local attack, the only survival skill needed would be knowing how to drive to another state to continue living. Take Fukushima for example.

The only ones to die from a nuclear blast would be the ones who couldn't get out of the blast zone in time. Just keep your truck gassed up and your ear to the ground. We'd have probably a couple hours of advanced warning. Drop your truck in 4-hi and ride through the ditches while everyone else is stuck in gridlock.
 

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