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The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes - and Why | 
| Author: Amanda Ripley
Publisher: Crown
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
Buy New: $14.05
You Save: $10.90 (44%)
New (31) Used (5) from $14.05
Avg. Customer Rating:  19 reviews
Sales Rank: 635
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 288
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.1 x 1.4
ISBN: 0307352897
Dewey Decimal Number: 155.935
EAN: 9780307352897
ASIN: 0307352897
Publication Date: June 10, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
It lurks in the corner of our imagination, almost beyond our ability to see it: the possibility that a tear in the fabric of life could open up without warning, upending a house, a skyscraper, or a civilization.
Today, nine out of ten Americans live in places at significant risk of earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, terrorism, or other disasters. Tomorrow, some of us will have to make split-second choices to save ourselves and our families. How will we react? What will it feel like? Will we be heroes or victims? Will our upbringing, our gender, our personality–anything we’ve ever learned, thought, or dreamed of–ultimately matter?
Amanda Ripley, an award-winning journalist for Time magazine who has covered some of the most devastating disasters of our age, set out to discover what lies beyond fear and speculation. In this magnificent work of investigative journalism, Ripley retraces the human response to some of history’s epic disasters, from the explosion of the Mont Blanc munitions ship in 1917–one of the biggest explosions before the invention of the atomic bomb–to a plane crash in England in 1985 that mystified investigators for years, to the journeys of the 15,000 people who found their way out of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Then, to understand the science behind the stories, Ripley turns to leading brain scientists, trauma psychologists, and other disaster experts, formal and informal, from a Holocaust survivor who studies heroism to a master gunfighter who learned to overcome the effects of extreme fear.
Finally, Ripley steps into the dark corners of her own imagination, having her brain examined by military researchers and experiencing through realistic simulations what it might be like to survive a plane crash into the ocean or to escape a raging fire.
Ripley comes back with precious wisdom about the surprising humanity of crowds, the elegance of the brain’s fear circuits, and the stunning inadequacy of many of our evolutionary responses. Most unexpectedly, she discovers the brain’s ability to do much, much better, with just a little help.
The Unthinkable escorts us into the bleakest regions of our nightmares, flicks on a flashlight, and takes a steady look around. Then it leads us home, smarter and stronger than we were before.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 14 more reviews...
 Fascinating, informative and potentially life-saving July 16, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
After reading this book, not only will you listen to safety briefings on aircraft and evacuate the building when your company has a fire-drill, but you'll walk down the stairs from your room the first night in a new hotel, take the stairs once a week at your office and do a skid-pan session each year. Such simple things could save your life and the lives of people around you.
This book is divided into three main sections covering topics such as how people react to disasters and why some people survive when others don't, describing instincts that we have evolved over millennia that may unfortunately not be the right instincts for a modern world, how being in a group affects survival, what you can do to improve your chances etc. It almost apologetically covers the subjects of panic and heroism, apologetically as this book tries to present facts without sensationalising them.
All the way through, this book gives examples of disasters where each type of behaviour has been observed, the vast majority recent enough for me to remember seeing the news items at the time. Ms. Ripley also provides good notes and references to related materials - I'll certainly be following a few of them, including reading more about Rick Rescorla who helped save so many lives on 9/11.
That so many events are so recent helps make this book fascinating reading. Reading it could change your behaviour and could save your life.
In Depth Reporting at its Best July 15, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Reading this book could save your life.
Amanda Ripley analyzes a variety of disasters with a four-pronged approach. She discusses how different people reacted to the event, how evolution has shaped our innate responses, what scientists have learned about survival mechanisms, and how to be a survivor yourself.
The Unthinkable July 7, 2008
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
In my role as a hazmat/radiological emergency responder and as a student in a Masters degree program in Emergency Management, I have never come across a book on this topic as well-written as this one by Ms. Ripley. "The Unthinkable" is filled with detailed personal accounts of people who have faced the unthinkable and survived. The author has skillfully reviewed these events and survivors and extracted information that should be known and understood by all emergency managers, military officers and people who are concerned about the effect of an acute traumatic experience on the human condition.
I highly recommend this book to all who might even have a passing interest in answering one of the fundamental questions asked by all... "What would I do?" Reading this book is far more important that knowing what color the National Threat Advisory System is today.
The Unthinkable is something we all should think about. July 4, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This book is very easy to read and extremely interesting. The author breaks it all down for us (when the worst hits) as to what people do and why. The accounts given from survivors are riveting and all seem to have a common thread running through them - I don't want to give away anything! This is a must read for anyone who flys, drives, goes on boat rides, attends school, or eats at restaurants! Bottom line: Anything can happen, at any time, any where. Why not give yourself the advantage that could very well save your life should something unexpected happen?
Fascinating Detail on How and Why People React in Catastrophies July 3, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
Ripley writes a fascinating book on how and why people act in disasters while utilizing testimonies from real tragedies ranging from the 9/11 twin towers to the passenger plane that plunged into the Everglades in the early 70s to even more recent occurrences such as the Virginia Tech shootings. The personal accounts involved with each circumstance make the book much more personal as the interviewed participants discuss how they reacted with attemps at explaining why. The author then uses behavior studies and scientific analysis to assist in explaing why the participants may have acted like they did. Studies that the author researched and from interviews with medicial specialists that study brain functions offer explanations that may very well determine who may adapt better than others. The studies of military personnel also offer the potential to determine who are the best candidates for high stress positions such as special forces personnel. The ability to lose focus is examplified with the example of a air liner going down possibly due to the crews joint focus over a potential trouble light. The author occasionally participates in studies to learn more about herself and she shares that information with the reader making the book a more personal experience although the testimonies themselves of the participants are very personal as well. She does note that some may be born with better ability to adapt to stress but she also notes from experts that up bringing and training can also create an advantage to adapt and react in a crisis. As noted in the many examples, many of us won't know how we will react until tested but with preparedness and training, the possibility of acting rationally increases.
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