This is a very insightful and well constructed book. There is a TON of information. It does lean heavily on food storage, dedicating nearly 2/3 of its 315 pages to various facets of food (production, preservation, storage). The remaining 100+ pages discuss things like clothing/bedding; Heat, cooking and light, Medical/dental; sanitation/personal care; communication, etc.
There are more than 2 dozen checklists which are very comprehensive and detailed. In my opinion these checklists combined with the nearly 20 pages of resources (pp 295-314) and other books recommended (chapter 31 - Survival Library pp 297-304) make the book worth purchasing. However - this great strength can also be a weakness, make sure the copy you buy is current. The first and second printings were back in the 1980's and don't contain updated resource lists ( a lesson I learned when purchasing Making the Best of Basics by James Talmadge Stevens). The older editions, I suspect are equally useful resources but won't have the very best part of the book.

The author is very specific on figuring the amounts of each food types to store based on caloric needs of your age group and reminds you to think ahead and anticipate changes as a person or child ages. As a nurse I feel this information is critical to overall health as he includes the number of calories needed per age. He also recommends that you store a variety of foods as well as 'treat' foods to compensate for a change in your diet that might eliminate our fast food habits. This book will guide you in creating a pantry suited to your own family. I highly recommend this book for the details it provides in all areas of long term food storage.

I enjoyed this book very much. This is a reference book and a book of facts and useful imformation. The writing style is dry. I get a little nuts when I buy a book about home preparedness and there are chapter's about making arrowheads and how to skin a rabbit and how to make a fire by rubbing two sticks together. If things every get this bad, I don't want to live anyway. However, in Mr. Sprigarelli's book, you won't find nutty stuff like making arrowheads. It's smart stuff and to the point. It's worth the money. Regards, Keith Renick, Peachtree City, Ga.

I have a personal copy of this book and thought so highly of it that I tried to buy one for my son. Amazon was temporarily out of stock so I made an online purchase directly from the authors. Guess what, that was in December and it is April now and the book was never sent. The authors have responded to email inquiries and promised to send the book. However they have never followed through and also have never bothered to send a refund. Maybe they are having a crisis of their own, in which case maybe they aren't all that well prepared after all. If you must have it, buy from Amazon or another credible source.

This book brings up too few scenarios to be useful that way, and really didn't do much more than thoroughly go into the pros and cons of purchased food preservation methods.