Category: Book, Movie, and Web Reviews

Letter Re: Media Misrepresentation of Guns and Gun Laws

James, Reference the controversy about the Longmire television show. It is common on television and in movies to see 1911s carried with the hammer down and the act of cocking prior to shooting. Most folks versed in firearms recognize this as Hollywood adding some drama. The act of cocking being the lead up to a shootout. Hollywood is after all all about drama and not reality or safety.  E B  writing about the danger of carrying the hammer down on a round in the chamber is correct about the safety concerns of doing so.  However the older government models had …


Michael Z. Williamson’s Book Review: Destroy the Enemy in Hand-to-Hand Combat: An Authentic Field Manual of the Red Army

Destroy the Enemy in Hand-to-Hand Combat: An Authentic Field Manual of the Red Army. (Also available as a Kindle edition.) Gen A. A. Tarasov (Author), Boris Karpa (Translator) Translated from the Soviet WWII original.  Boris Karpa has done an excellent job of maintaining the flavor of the Soviet manual, keeping the read interesting, and making it reasonably clear. Some sections are a bit awkward, but it seems to be from the original writing, not a translation difficulty.  Those areas that don’t translate well are covered more than adequately by the original illustrations. The first half of the book covers moving …


Letter Re: Media Misrepresentation of Guns and Gun Laws

Mr. Rawles,  I read with interest the bit you wrote on the television show “Longmire.”  I, too, have found the show somewhat entertaining so have been following it the past few weeks.  Doing so recently I watched a bit that I thought you might find interesting.   During a recent episode Longmire is inspecting the body of a murder victim while talking about the victim with the owner of the property upon which the corpse was found.  Longmire notes that the property owner is wearing a holstered firearm, probably a 1911 or other semi-auto pistol, with some “angst.”  I use that word for a reason.  The look …


Betsy’s Book Review: The Dog Stars by Peter Heller

Publisher: Vintage Books, New York. Copyright 2012 ISBN: 978-0-307-95047-5 A National Best Seller Spoilers ahead. If you don’t like to know details about a novel before you read, you might want to skip this review. I picked up The Dog Stars by Peter Heller while waiting in an airport, and frankly I enjoy fiction, but only if its intelligent and well-written, which this one is. The world has been decimated by a flu pandemic, and it’s a few years post-apocalypse. The survivors have arranged themselves into small enclaves of existence. Told in the first person by Hig, two men with …


Letter Re: Re: Studying Guerilla Warfare Tactics

Sir, I recently ordered and read the book Resistance to Tyranny: A Primer. This book was published in the last few years, and therefore is quite modern and an excellent companion to Total Resistance by Major H. Von Dach. As a primer, it provides a general overview of the topic, with listed resources for further research. It has many lessons that I believe would be applicable to a TEOTWAWAKI situation. God Bless, – Andrew M.


Note from JWR:

I heard that fellow blogger Ron (a.k.a. “The Orange Jeep Dad“) will soon be leaving Phoenix, Arizona and moving his wife and family (they have six daughters) to their old family farm in Oklahoma. Established in the late 1800s, it has been abandoned since the 1980s when his grandfather became ill. Ron promises to blog about the entire adventure and include videos of how he and his family learn to farm, raise livestock, homestead, and homeschool. We wish Ron and his family the best for their move. Their new life will be quite a ride. And as one who has …


Betsy’s Book Review: The Prepper’s Cookbook by Tess Pennington

Publisher:  Ulysses Press, Berkeley, California. Copyright: 2013 ISBN:  978-1-61243-129-1 223 pages Available on Amazon or eBay for between $10 and $15 I received The Prepper’s Cookbook: 300 Recipes to Turn Your Emergency Food into Nutritious, Delicious, Life-Saving Meals as a copy for review. Tess Pennington made the assumption that the reader of her cookbook is new to prepping.  She goes step by step and explains why to prep, why to be proactive, and how to afford food preps. Also covered are economic prepping, the just-in-time grocery store concept, how to begin to stockpile, and rotating supplies. Additionally, she explains “essential …


T.M.’s Book Review: The Great Game, by Peter Hopkirk

© 2006 Peter Hopkirk Published by The Folio Society 2010 510 pages with map of the area on the inside covers. Available in paperback and eBook from Internet booksellers. There are color photos and illustrations, a lengthy bibliography, and a comprehensive index in my copy. Recommended for high school students and older. If you want to know the back story of the present situation in Afghanistan, you need to read The Great Game: The Struggle for Empire in Central Asia. First published in 1990, it is still available thanks to paperback and eBook editions. First edition hardback copies are available …


R.J.’s Book Review: At Home In Dogwood Mudhole, Volume One: Nothing That Eats

At Home In Dogwood Mudhole, Volume One: Nothing That Eats By Franklin Sanders Copyright: 2012 ISBN 978-1-938817-06-9 Although there is a long standing link at JWR’s Investing page to his Moneychanger web site, not every SurvivalBlog reader may know of Franklin Sanders. His stories will either have an air of familiarity or yearning to follow in his footsteps. Christian, father of seven, farmer, historian, husband, outlaw, and reenactor are all facets to this interesting man.   This is first of three planned books. It solidly weighs in with a hefty 379 pages. There’s something nice about picking up a paperback …


Pat’s Product Review: Bardin & Marsee Waterproof Bible

I was recently sent a Bible, a waterproof Bible, for testing for SurvivalBlog. Okay, I have a shelf full of Bibles, I hold several ministerial degrees, including a Doctor Of Divinity Degree, so I use different Bibles for studying God’s word – some versions are easier to understand that others – thus a shelf full of Bibles. When a survival situation comes down, I can’t think of anything more important to have, than having a faith in God, and being a Believer in Jesus Christ – it is a saving faith, and one that has gotten me and my family …


Harry’s Book Review: After the Snow by S.D. Crockett

Book Title: After the Snow Author: S.D. Crockett Copyright Date: 2012 Publisher: Feiwel and Friends ISBN: 978-0-312-64169-6 Audio, e-book or foreign translation avail? Yes–Kindle Suitable for children? Teens probably. When you find a story predicting that the future is another ice age you know you have found an author who is thinking outside of the box. The global warming crowd is not going to be pleased if this is our future. Not only do we get an Ice Age, but the solar farms and wind farms are a complete failure. Nuclear is king and coal is the next best alternative. …


Pat’s Product Review: Speedy Sharp

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I’ve been around knives since I was about five years old. For a time, I collected custom made knives, but that “hobby” got too expensive for me. For close to 20 years I was the West Coast Field Editor for Knives Illustrated magazine. I believe I wrote for them longer than anyone else did. During that time, I wrote numerous magazine articles, and had at least a thousand different knife samples pass through my hands. When I first started writing about knives, there were a lot of knives that came across my desk that weren’t very sharp – I’m glad …


Pat’s Product Review: UVPaqlite Forever Lite

I’m like many folks, and when I can get a good deal on a product, that can help me fill a particular need, I like that. However, when I can get a great deal on a product, I’m even happier. But when I can get a free deal on something I need, I couldn’t be happier. When the power goes out, we all reach for a flashlight, to help us find our way in the dark. When out camping, we need a light source of some type as well. Many folks carry flashlights in their BOB, or have lanterns for …


A Short Review of a Complex Document: Armageddon Online, by Old Bobbert

I saw the link in the March 23rd  “Odds & Sods” to 297 free online reference books at Armageddon Online and began to drool with excitement powered by anticipation and saved the link to my desktop. Two days later, while sitting at my desk finishing off a small tube of Albuteral in my nebulizer, I finally followed up on that wonderful impulse to get something good for me for free. I soon found that “free” was actually $5, a small fee supported quite well by an apologetic explanation of the onslaught of used bandwidth when offered for free. We all …


T.M. in Arkansas Book Review: A History of Warfare

A History of Warfare © 1993 by John Keegan Published by Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. ISBN: 0-394-58801-0            Available in paperback and eBook The copy I read is the first edition hardback. There are 64 photos and illustrations, a lengthy bibliography, 18 pages of notes, and a nicely done index. Recommended for both male and female high school students, and older. A History of Warfare was first published ten years ago, but has no expiration date as shown by now being available on your eBook reader. It is indeed timeless. The author gave us two dozen books in his career before …