Building a Prepping Library
Kevin Felts 12.26.16
In a previous article we talked about applying history to modern prepping. However, how are we supposed to know our history if we do not have a library?
Let’s take a few minutes to talk about developing a well rounded prepper library. My personal library has everything from Roman history to the history of Texas and a lot of stuff in between. Some of my personal favorite topics are the Black Death (Bubonic plague) and life in medieval times.
Even though a prepping library can be divided into a wide range of topics, for the sake of discussion let’s focus on three main categories. These are disease, homesteading, and wilderness survival.
Disease
When the Bubonic plague swept through an area, what issues did the people face? How did the people react? What services were shut down? Who were the first groups to become infected? Who were the second and third groups?
Couple of books in my library:
- The Great Mortality by John Kelly
- The Black Death A Chronicle of the Plague by Johannes Nohl
They discuss in great detail problems faced when Bubonic plague swept through an area. The books detail first hand accounts of the human tragedy caused by the Bubonic plague.
When prepping for an outbreak of a new disease, it helps to understand the difficulties or ancestors faced.
Homesteading
Another one of my personal favorite topics is homesteading, the back to basics movement. Why is homesteading so important?
I would like to quote a couple of my favorite presidents:
“Agriculture is now, as it’s always been, the basis of civilization”
President Theodore Roosevelt
“Cultivators of the earth are the most valuable citizens. They are the most vigorous, the most independent, the most virtuous, and they are tied to their country and wedded to it’s liberty and interests by the most lasting bands.”
Thomas Jefferson
Whether it was an outbreak of the plague or War, people living in rural areas were mostly isolated from their effects. While the Black Death ravaged cities, there were limited transmission vector routes to farmers.
Prepping and the back to basics movement go hand-in-hand. As Thomas Jefferson said, “Farmers are the most independent citizens.” One of the goals of prepping is to become less dependent on modern society.
Homesteading books in my library:
- Readers Digest, Back To Basics by David Toht
- Backyard Homesteading A back-to-basics guide to self-sufficiency
- Chickens by Derek Hall
- Raising Chickens for Dummies
- Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew
Not if, but when there is a complete collapse of society, rural farmers will depend on each other. We will grow crops, raise our chickens, trade between other farmers, and develop a self-sustaining micro-society.
Wilderness Survival
When all else fails there is always going back to nature. At one time our ancestors depended on their wilderness skills to survive,
People involved in the modern prepping movement should at least understand the basics of wilderness survival.
Wilderness survival books in my library:
- FM 21-76 US Army Survival Manual
- The Survival Handbook – Essential Skills for Outdoor Adventure
- SAS Survival Handbook by John “lofty” Wiseman
In all honesty, I need to add a few books on edible wild plants and foraging.
Prepping Library
I hope you have enjoyed this article about developing a well rounded prepping library. There are so many great books and related topics, we could go on for days. We have not even touched on life in medieval times.
Currently I am reading “Life in a Medieval City” by Frances and Joseph Gies.
Next is either “The Little Ice Age” by Brian Fagan or “The Neanderthals Rediscovered” by Dimitra Papagianni and Michael A. Morse.
