Favorite Survival Books

Recently by M.D. Creekmore: Review: The Backyard Homestead

The amount of emails hitting my Inbox makes my head spin. I just checked my inbox and in the last 30 minutes I’ve had 43 emails…. and it is Monday morning as I write this (off-peak) I’m sure this number will grow with the day.

On a single day last week I had 339 emails – it was a fairly ‘normal’ day.

I try to answer everyone, but sometimes it’s impossible because of sheer number received and time restraints. If you’ve sent an email and I’ve failed to answer, I’m sorry. I’ll try to do better…

Many of the emails are from readers asking for help. Their requests are varied and include:

  • questions about the topics I’m writing about
  • emails of thanks and encouragement from readers who appreciate the site
  • ‘pitches’ asking me to feature products or link to posts
  • enquiries from advertisers
  • submissions by potential guest posters
  • complaints about something that has been written

The Backyard Homestead... Best Price: $4.91 Buy New $10.91 (as of 05:50 UTC - Details)

But the number one inquiry is for product and book recommendations – usually in the form of “could you recommend a basic, yet complete survival library of around ten books”, so I’ve decided to list my recommendations here and use this post as an answer to this question, that I can link to in my response.

The New Complete Book ... Seymour, John Best Price: $21.05 (as of 02:20 UTC - Details)

M.D.’s Top Twelve Survival Book Recommendations

1. The New Complete Book Of Self-Sufficiency by John Seymour 2. The New Self-Sufficient Gardener by John Seymour 3. Barnyard In Your BackYard by Gail Damerow 4. Cookin’ With Home Storage by Peggy Layton 5. Emergency Food Storage & Survival Handbook by Peggy Layton 6. Putting Food By Fourth Edition by Beatrice Vaughan 7. Survival Poaching by Ragnar Benson 8. Where There Is No Doctor by David Werner 9. Nuclear War Survival Skills by Cresson H. Kearny 10. Primitive Wilderness Living & Survival Skills by John & Geri McPherson 11. Boston’s Gun Bible by Boston T. Party 12. The Forager’s Harvest by Samuel Thayer

Please keep sending emails, asking questions and giving advice – I would love to hear from you, but if you’re asking for book recommendations you are likely to receive a link to this post, since these books are given my highest recommendation and are nearly a complete survival library within themselves.

What have I left out? I’m sure you have other “must have” survival books on your list, please share your recommendations in the comments below.

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July 17, 2010

M.D. Creekmore [send him mail] is a full-time blogger and preparedness consultant. He currently lives completely off-grid somewhere in the Appalachian mountains and is currently working on his upcoming book The Dirt Cheap Survival Retreat for Paladin Press. To connect with M.D. Creekmore please visit his Survival Blog.