This book is worth reading and can help people in many ways, such as to better understand behavior in emergency situations, be less judgmental of other peoples reactions in emergency situations and be better prepared if an emergency happens to you. Ripley managed to keep my attention and provide a learning experience that can be applied in future situations.

Part of a creating and supporting a survival mind set is the individual capacity to accurately perceive and assess potential problems before they become problematic. This book reaches into this realm of accurate assessments and dismantles the process--through real examples.

There is as much misconception about survival as in any pursuit man chases along pristine academic lines. This book, while intelligently done, avoids sterile academic presentations, explanations, and best-guessing when problem solving in a life-threatening arena.

I believe we learn best by doing and through first hand experiences, and this is where this book delivers. Many of us want to know what it will take for us to survive doom. Most of us will not be able to prepare for disasters through surviving disaster, but that doesn't mean we cannot prepare.

Reading this book will allow you to experience disaster and learn what you need without needing to endure all of the danger and suffering. As close to acquiring first hand experience, reading and assimilating this book just may be your first needed step toward being truly prepared for the realities of surviving disaster.

Bad stuff happens. What you do when it does could be a matter of life or death. "The Unthinkable" sits on my bookshelf alongside Gavin DeBecker's The Gift of Fear: And Other Survival Signals That Protect Us from Violence. The takeaway from both of these invaluable books is not to be paranoid or fearful, but to be prepared. To get your mind right before something happens, whether it's a minor traffic accident or a major disaster. If you've already contemplated what might happen and what you might do when it does, you're ahead of the game--and ahead of the rest of the people around you.

Other reviewers have commented (complained?) that it's somehow not "comprehensive" enough, but it doesn't need to be. The idea is not to show every disaster and how to survive it, but to delve into several major disasters and show how ordinary people survived them, whether by their own actions or, in one notable case, inaction.

I can't help but think of an out-of-town business trip I took a few years ago. At 1am, the fire alarm went off and strobe lights in my room started flashing. I got up, looked into the hallway, and saw...nothing. Eventually I saw other curious guests looking out of their rooms. I put some clothes on and wandered outside, where I stood around with the other guests until hotel staff told us it was safe to go back inside. My boss said something about kids playing a prank. Fifteen minutes after I got back into bed, the alarm went off again. I put a pillow over my head and went back to sleep. If there had been an actual fire, well, perhaps I wouldn't be here to write this. Now that I have a son I will no longer mess around with this kind of thing. As they say, better safe than sorry.

An amazing, eye-opening book. Read it and get your mind right before you need it. And if you never need it, consider yourself among the fortunate majority. At the very least, you'll have been entertained.

This book is quite good, particularly if you'd like to evaluate yourself and understand how well you might do in a life-threatening emergency.

One criteria, which is used to predict how well those being tested for admission into our military's Special Forces will do, is especially intriguing. You're asked if you've experienced three symptoms:

1. Things seem to move in slow motion.
2. Things seemed unreal, as if in a dream.
3. You had a feeling of separation from what was happening, as if you were watching a movie or a play.

Answering "Yes" to all three means you're LESS likely to make it through the grueling Special Forces training. In a tight situation you'll probably freeze or panic. That's not good when bullets are flying.

At first, I was disappointed. I'd answered yes to all three, but based on experience, I think I handle a crisis well. Then I noticed that the questions are preceded by "thinking back over last few days...." Oh, that makes an enormous difference. I never have those feelings in day-to-day life. In fact, it's been years since I had one, They only come in life-threatening experiences, such as while mountain climbing and in a car accident that left both cars totaled.

It turns out that's OK. Experienced Special Forces operatives have precisely those experiences in tight situations. Kept within limits, they help us focus on the danger at hand and shut out distractions. But if you have them in daily life, your brain is likely to be overwhelmed in a real emergency. Instead of seeing only what you need to see, you see nothing. Instead of seeing things in slow motion, you freeze. Instead of separating slightly from events, you tune them out entirely.

In one case, I was in a precarious spot on a cliff face when the friend I was with slipped and fell. If both of us were to live, I had to pass through the three stages the author discusses. Denial was gone in a flash. We were roped together, so if I didn't act quickly, I'd snatched off the rockface after him. Deliberate took less than a second. The rock was too bare to provide a handhold, so my only hope was to grab the rope and exert as much drag as possible before it snapped taunt. If that meant my hands were ripped to shreds, then so be it. Decide was more like acting and meant grabbing the coiled rope and letting the last twenty feet burn through my hands. After I'd arrested his fall, I remember looking at my bare hands, expecting to see flesh ripped to the bone. They were merely a bit red from the friction.

My only complain comes from her blog, linked from TheUnthinkable dot com. There she makes remarks about gun control that are silly beyond belief. She's certainly no Sarah Palin, riding snow machines through a frozen wilderness and hunting moose without a flicker of fear. And lack of confidence and knowledge about weapons doesn't speak well of her in a crunch, since two traits of those who do well in danger is that they're confident of their abilities and prepare well. "What if her reporting of studies of people under stress is equally flawed?," I asked myself. Probably not, I eventually concluded. She's clueless about anything connected with guns because she works for Time magazine, where that sort of ignorance is the norm. But she probably got the other studies right.

In short, the book's well worth reading. Just don't ask the author to go hunting with you. She might not panic, but I'm not sure she knows which end of a rifle to point toward the target.

Michael W. Perry, editor of Chesterton on War and Peace: Battling the Ideas and Movements that Led to Nazism and World War II

Through study of the latest scientific information regarding human behavior during the stress of disastrous incidents, the author describes how our perceptions and cognitive processes are distorted under these conditions, leading to behaviors that may once have been evolutionarily appropriate but in the modern age are maladaptive and threaten our survival. The book takes us through gripping accounts of individuals who survived 9/11, plane crashes, tsunamis, house fires, terrorist hostage incidents, shootings, etc., illustrating these concepts in action.

The message is that through preparation and training we can create reflexive muscle memory and response patterns that will kick in to override our natural tendencies to tunnel vision, freezing up, or panic when a crisis hits. These are the same techniques used by the police and military.

One of the first and best preparation steps one could take would be to read this book. Recommended!

I just finished reading this and cannot wait till I read it again! This is full of not just well written stories, but backed by hours of research and science! It also points you in the right direction of further research with a great breakdown in the back of the book of where the book got it research from by chapter! If emergency management / homeland security even interests you, buy this! Also, if you are in the slightest curious on human response in disasters, buy this book! If you want to better prepare yourself or family and friends for emeregencies, buy this book! Well, buy it and read it is what I truly mean!

For me, as a New Yorker who used to work at The World Trade Center, this book was a heart pounder and a tear jerker.
It was also very empowering.
I now understand some of the behaviors I've seen and understand my own.
I know I can survive. It's not just luck.
I can better my chances and that of my family.
For your own sake, read this book.

Quite the primer on surviving disasters. Excellant material for everyone who wants to improve the odds on surviving life threatening situations.
Should be required reading for security professionals, and anyone who has anything to do with emeregency response planning & procedures.

this book is not a fear, anxiety spin, it has common sense information that everyone needs to know about being a survivor.

I heard the author on Coast to Coast am radio show and decided to get her book. I bought the CDs. This kept me riveted and gave me alot to think about. As a nurse, we PRACTICE for emergencies and think about what could happen if the patient worsens. That way we ACT instead of having to decide. I highly recommend this book/CD

The book is valuable in concept, but it is presented in a very choppy and disconnected manner. It is filled with stories which illustrate the various points but they are more like a reporter's scattered notes compiled together than a linear flow of thinking.

Praise the author for knowing that statistics can kill even the most avid reader or responder. The subject has been well researched, but Ripley avoids such a pitfall. There are times the book feels padded and there are times the subject cries out for more help from the philosophers. A section relating to how Freud or Jung and gang might approach the problems would also have been welcome. The conclusions are we may never know how we would react in any given disaster or accident, but the reader may get some little indication on his/hers/ own ability to survive even the reading of duller books full of statistics. Having read from page one to the end I
was left feeling like I had eaten Chinese food, i.e. satisfied at first, but wanting more. Susan

As a practicing doctor and author (Stay Healthy, Live Longer, Spend Wisely: Making Intelligent Choices in America's Healthcare System), I don't have a lot of free time to read for pleasure, so when I read a book, it's got to be great. This is one of those books. Much like Tipping Point, Blink, and Freakonomics, The Unthinkable provides fascinating anecdotes, references to research, and causes us to think differently about the world we live in. In brief, each victim of a disaster undergoes three stages - denial, deliberation, and the decisive moment. How quickly one moves through the stages can make the difference between life and death. Yet most of us aren't trained or plan for the unthinkable until it is upon us. As Ms. Ripley notes through the various stories, many are stuck in denial or frozen at deliberation and subsequently perish. If there is one major lesson, then it is that we all have the potential to be survivors and that each of us can be better prepared (for example, people who survive plane crashes are more likely to have reviewed the safety card in the seat pocket and noted where the nearest exits are. Why? When the unthinkable happened, passengers not familiar with the exit procedures or nearest way out essentially couldn't think or focus which is problematic when seconds count). Survival favors the prepared mind. The stories were very real and put you in the moment. Over and over you will ask yourself, if I was there would I be the one who survived or would I have been frozen, unable to move or decide and as a result died. The book is impossible to put down. I finished it in days. Easily the best book of the year.

The product and the condition of the book were exactly what I was looking for. I was disappointed in the time it took to receive the book. I am unsure of what the hold up was in delivery.

This book is really unthinkable amazing!!!
It makes you learning so many things on the subject "human behaviour during catastrophes", which you wouldn't expect.
It's nearly all stories-interesting examples from whom to collect and understand theory.
I strongly recommend it to anybody interested on the subject.

Such an in-depth study of the human psyche. Great read. I highly recommend this book.

Everyone does it. Bored at work, staring out a window. Or late at night, unable to sleep. The "what if" game.What if the unthinkable thing ever happened, what would you do? Could you handle it? Would you survive?

THE UNTHINKABLE by Amanda Ripley is based on just this intriguing premise and she takes us into the world of several different heroes and heroines who, yes, they did just that. They survived. But more than that, Ms. Ripley slips into analytical mode to help us understand the reasons behind their sudden bursts of courage, often breaking free of an otherwise ordinarily unremarkable normal life.

THE UNTHINKABLE was an engrossing read, one that I would recommend for many reasons. Entertainment, of course. Information, always a plus. But more importantly, it gave me a sense of awareness. Of how sudden all things precious can be plucked away from us and while we can never truly plan for that, a sense of awareness is always a valuable thing, not to be taken for granted.

As any student of history would sadly agree.

"The Unthinkable" logically deconstructs disasters and examines who survives and who doesn't. It provides a fantastic framework for examining risks in your life, and thinking about how best to surive these risks. It is not a doomsday book about stockpiling food in your basement bunker, but instead deals with a way to think about these situations beforehand, so that you will be better mentally prepared.

The book is well-written, and I had trouble putting it down. My wife is currently reading it, and enjoying it also. After reading this book I believe I will react differently if I am ever faced with a looming disaster scenario. I believe that everyone should read this book, and I am giving to my parents to read next.

Amanda Ripley's "The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Srikes and Why," is a tale told that might just keep you alive. The "3-D's" (Denial, Deliberation and Decisive Moment) provide structure for her narrative. These are the stages that human beings typically pass through when some catastrophic event actually occurs. I would have preferred that Decisive Moment be called simply "Decision," but that is a minor point.

Although it sounds simple and corny, being prepared really does improve one's odds of survival. To have thought about what might happen when a disaster strikes, to have a plan, to have practiced the plan are the way-steps to putting yourself into survivor mode.

Ripley takes the reader through a wide variety of modern disasters and catastrophic events. The bombing of the World Trade Center, the 9-11 attacks on the World Trade Center, the Air Florida crash, the London subway attack, earthquakes, fires, the Virginia Tech shootings, Hurricane Katrina to name a few.

For some, the fickle finger of fate will mean instant death without any opportunity for action or escape. However, for most people there are decisions to be made and actions to be taken which can dramatically improve one's ability to survive death or serious injury. Personality traits factor in, even one's body type plays a role, along with an understanding of human evolutionary history are some of the ingredients in the survival stewpot. But any person can learn, prepare for and practice steps that will improve one's own odds of survival.

There is a fresh air of optimism to Ripley's narrative, which I really like. It is not fantasy optimism. The practical and simple things that one can learn and the actions one can plan for in a disaster situation are key ingredients in the survival recipe. Except for an unlucky few, most of us still have opportunites and choices when the unthinkable does happen.

After reading the related Time magazine article "How to Survive a Disaster" (May 29/June 9, 2008), I read this book with great anticipation, only to be sorely disappointed. I found too little additional information in the book to warrant recommending reading it instead of, much less in addition to, the article.

If you are looking for "actionable" information, there is little more than what you will find in run-of-the-mill disaster preparedness pamphlets.

Neither can I recommend the book for "motivation" or "inspiration": The author's meandering style (repeated digressions, reiterations, irrelevancies,...) drains the narrative force from the events and the interviewees' experiences -- I repeatedly stopped reading in the middle of an account (I normally read several chapters at a time). However, if you read a few pages at a time, this may not register.

Rather than a book on the topic, it is a more of an account of a series of the interviews on this topic, for example, describing the room in which an interview was conducted decades after the event. Although focusing on a few participants in an event is often used to provide the skeleton on which to build, this book doesn't flesh out the skeleton with the expected related examples, analysis and synthesis. Interesting and relevant topics are mentioned only in passing instead of being explored and tied into the larger narrative. My impression is that the author is much more interested in talking to people about the topic than in the topic itself.

A friend who is less goal-directed than me said that, although the content was "slight," the book was "generally entertaining" with sections that were "flat." She too was very disappointed by the many unexplored topics and missed opportunities. (She and I participate in a citizens' group promoting the role of residents in our city's disaster plans and prep)

If you are involved in disaster preparations, the alluded-to topics might help you organize and articulate your experiences and thoughts by triggering memories in a useful way. If you are newly interested, these brief mentions might prime you to better recognize and comprehend these topics in future readings and discussions. Despite this, it is impossible for me to recommend a book for what it skips past.

Comments on chapters:

Risk: I have read many good introductions on how people assess risk. With so many examples and templates available, I was surprised that the chapter here was poorly rendered and very incomplete.

Panic: If you--like me--deal with officials who (mistakenly) believe that widespread panic is likely to occur in most disasters, then you may find the chapter on panic useful. Not because it's particularly good, but because panic is so poorly treated in so much of the accessible literature (typically little more than "panic is rare"). I was disappointed that the book presents stampedes/crushes as instances of panic. In many cases, the individuals seem to be acting rationally (irrational action is the core of "panic") based upon their local circumstances, unaware of the global situation and how the cumulative effects of those local actions are harmful.

Errata: pg 219: A referenced website has moved. The domain for "ReallyReady" no longer exists but its content can be accessed at the FAS site in subdirectory "reallyready" (Can't be specific: Amazon prohibits external URLs in reviews for legitimate security reasons).

After reading the related Time magazine article "How to Survive a Disaster" (May 29/June 9, 2008), I read this book with great anticipation, only to be sorely disappointed. I found too little additional information in the book to warrant recommending reading it instead of, much less in addition to, the article.

If you are looking for "actionable" information, there is little more than what you will find in run-of-the-mill disaster preparedness pamphlets.

Neither can I recommend the book for "motivation" or "inspiration": The author's meandering style (repeated digressions, reiterations, irrelevancies,...) drains the narrative force from the events and the interviewees' experiences -- I repeatedly stopped reading in the middle of an account (I normally read several chapters at a time). However, if you read a few pages at a time, this may not register.

Rather than a book on the topic, it is a more of an account of a series of the interviews on this topic, for example, describing the room in which an interview was conducted decades after the event. Although focusing on a few participants in an event is often used to provide the skeleton on which to build, this book doesn't flesh out the skeleton with the expected related examples, analysis and synthesis. Interesting and relevant topics are mentioned only in passing instead of being explored and tied into the larger narrative. My impression is that the author is much more interested in talking to people about the topic than in the topic itself.

A friend who is less goal-directed than me said that, although the content was "slight," the book was "generally entertaining" with sections that were "flat." She too was very disappointed by the many unexplored topics and missed opportunities.

If you are involved in disaster preparations, the many alluded-to topics might help you organize and articulate your experiences and thoughts by triggering memories in a useful way. If you are newly interested, these brief mentions might prime you to better recognize and comprehend these topics in future readings and discussions. Despite this, it is impossible for me to recommend a book for what it skips past.

Comments on chapters:

Risk: I have read many good introductions on how people assess risk. With so many examples and templates available, I was surprised that the chapter here was poorly rendered and very incomplete.

Panic: If you--like me--deal with officials who (mistakenly) believe that widespread panic is likely to occur in most disasters, then you may find the chapter on panic useful. Not because it's particularly good, but because panic is so poorly treated in so much of the accessible literature (typically little more than "panic is rare"). I was disappointed that the book presents stampedes/crushes as instances of panic. In many cases, the individuals seem to be acting rationally (irrational action is the core of "panic") based upon their local circumstances, unaware of the global situation and how the cumulative effects of those local actions are harmful.

Errata: pg 219: A referenced website has moved. The domain for "ReallyReady" no longer exists but its content can be accessed at the FAS site in subdirectory "reallyready" (Can't be specific: Amazon prohibits external URLs in reviews for legitimate security reasons).

The author keeps getting stuck in evolutionary history and whenever I read the word, my brain shuts off. "Our evolutionary (fill in the blank) takes over and...."

If I 'evolved' from the ocean or wherever, why is it I don't feel comfortable swimming? Unfortunately, I didn't see that she was a New York Times Columnist until I had purchased the book. That about ruined it for me. It also explained her obsession with evolution.

By that time, I'd also ordered the book for my daughter because she'd been involved in a plane incident a few days earlier. The only thing I can see that 'helps' is the combat breathing part. Other than that, it's not worth the price. If you have to read it, go to the libary.

So you find yourself in the midst of a 9/11-type disaster or a natural disaster like an earthquake. Observing from a distance, it's easy to second-guess the decisions of those whose lives are threatened. You think you'd be far more decisive and intelligent. But would you? Amanda Ripley examines that question in her book The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes - and Why. It's an excellent read on the different forces at play in disaster scenarios, and how come your "expected" response may not be anywhere close to what you actually end up doing.

Contents:
Introduction: "Life Becomes Like Molten Metal"
Part 1 - Denial: Delay - Procrastinating in Tower 1; Risk - Gambling in New Orleans
Part 2 - Deliberation: Fear - The Body and Mind of a Hostage; Resilience - Staying Cool in Jerusalem; Groupthink - Role Playing at the Beverly Hills Supper Club Fire
Part 3 - The Decisive Moment: Panic - A Stampede on Holy Ground; Paralysis - Playing Dead in French Class; Heroism - A Suicide Attempt on the Potomac River
Conclusion - Making New Instincts
Author's Note; Notes; Selected Bibliography; Index

Ripley uses the stories of individual survivors (and a few who didn't make it) to analyze how our minds react to an unexpected traumatic experience. She frames the responses as three phases of something called a Survival Arc, which make up the flow of the book. The denial phase happens immediately after the event occurs. We rationalize away the most logical explanations and attempt to paint the event in terms of what we consider normal. This is why we ignore fire drills and don't exhibit any urgency in the face of impending danger like fire or hurricanes. After denial (assuming that denial doesn't end up killing you), we move into the deliberation phase. We've accepted that things aren't "normal", but we're still not sure what to do about it. Some become docile and follow anyone who seems to have a plan, regardless of how smart or idiotic it may be. Others step out of their assigned roles and become leaders, herding people to safety although it's not their "job". After deliberation comes the decisive moment, the time when you take action and commit to a course of action. Many believe that panic is the most common reaction. But in reality, many groups tend to stay calm for various reasons. In the "hero" category is the person who puts themselves at risk of death to save others, regardless of how hopeless the odds may seem. What's strange is the reason why people would do this. It's not the "I wanted to be a hero" mindset in many cases. Instead, it's the "I couldn't live with myself if I didn't" feeling. Finally, Ripley wraps up the book with examples of how training and teaching can alter the outcome of a disaster, and get people to react in ways that can save their lives with only a few simple changes in thinking.

This is an excellent book for the times we live in. We go about our lives, expecting everything to be "normal". But there's absolutely no guarantee that your day in the office won't turn into a life-or-death struggle that you are completely unprepared to handle. Just the simple knowledge of these phases can go a long way towards making you aware of your surroundings, as well as giving you the proper understanding of what's happening to others around you. If you take the time to incorporate Ripley's insights into your mental framework, you'll up your odds significantly in terms of being a survivor instead of a statistic.

Just a mom here who likes to read about real stuff. I found this book immensley interesting and usefull. No one really knows how they will react under duress or in emergencies but I hope I now know what to avoid if I'm able to function. Most interesting was the impact that one person can have especially by yelling to pull people out of fright stupor. Loved the read about heroes!

About: How folks behave in disasters. Organized into the three phases of human behavior in a disaster: denial, deliberation and the decisive moment, Ripley examines disasters such as 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, the 2004 tsunami, ship wrecks and plane crashes as well as conducts interviews with survivors and experts in order to determine who does what and why when disaster strikes.


Neat Things I Learned:

* Alzheimer's disease kills more people than fire

* You are more likely to die from food poisoning than fire

* The most common human reaction to a disaster is to do nothing

* You are two times as likely to kill yourself than to be killed by somebody else

* 90% of drivers think they are better drivers than the average person

* If it is sunny in the morning, it is likely that stocks will go up that day

* Even when told not to, about half of air passengers try to take their carry-on bags with them in an evacuation

* Sharks kill about 6 people a year. People kill 26 to 73 million sharks a year

* Teenagers taught to drive by their parents as opposed to a professional have twice as great a chance of getting into a serious accident

* Empathy and a close relationship with parents appear to be predictors in those who exhibit heroic behavior


Pros: Interesting, moves along quickly, well-written. There's some quality advice here such as don't rely on news media to tell you what you should worry about; it's the common stuff that doesn't get reported on that you should be concerned with (like car accidents) and practice, practice, practice are the three best ways to know what you should do in a disaster.

Cons: While there's a notes section and selected bibliography, no in-text citations are provided. Pictures section in the middle seems out of place in a book such as this. "Resilience" Is defined in a note, as opposed to in the text, where I think it would have been a better fit.

After 9/11, but especially after Katrina, I found myself thinking more about disaster readiness. I even enacted a few plans.

Then, non-disaster life took over.

As a psychologist I'm fascinated by the human capacity to be eternally optimistic. Optimism has great survival benefit, but a failure to look darkness in the face can have serious consequences.

THE UNTHINKABLE has re-engaged me. My wife and I've talked about how to get out of our 3rd-story attic bedroom in the even of a fire. I've checked and rechecked the batteries in our fire alarms.

THE UNTHINKABLE does a great job of mapping typical responses to a disaster. The "do nothing" or "I'll just mill about" response certainly got my attention. Short of experiencing a mock disaster, I suppose the best thing to do is be as mentally prepared as possible. If you're in a disaster and have the presence of mind to get out and see folks doing nothing? YELL at them! Shock them out of their (survival-based) stupor and SHOUT clear, brief instructions. Good advice.

THE UNTHINKABLE also does a good job of putting the onus for preparedness on our shoulders. Building owners, airlines, governments aren't going to do it for all sorts of not-too-well-thought-through reasons. Part of preparedness is reading books like THE UNTHINKABLE. And if Steven Pinker, the MIT cognitive scientist, is right, the rehearsing possibilities in the mind may help with life itself.

I'm already checking out the EXITs in hotels and office buildings. I'm mentally prepared not only for thick smoke in a fire, but darkness too. I may even yell at someone to get him/her moving rather than be a "nice," encouraging psychologist.

Recommended. A good read.

Enjoy and -- be safer.

Dr. Kirtland Peterson

Excellent book, well worth the read. Sure the stories are interesting and if that were the only thing this book had to offer it would still be a great book. What gives it five stars is the way it weaves in practical solutions that you can practice today and they are not done in 1950's or any sort of cheesy 80's style. She puts the story there and has practical solutions without going over the top. Sure you can think you are prepared but why do you think sports professionals practice over and over because in the end you want to the body to react without the mind getting in the way. Get the book and pass it around to those you care about.

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.

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.

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.

I am currently ordering 10 copies of this book to give to my family and friends. If you are reading this review: do not hesitate; buy this book, immediately.

There is not much I can add to the reviews posted thus far... all I can say is that this book will certainly go down in history as the defining work of it's time.

Amanda Ripley: thank you, from the bottom of our hearts. You have changed everything.

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?

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.

Ripley writes a fascinating book on how people act in disasters and why they react in certain ways 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 this book very interesting and readable as the author uses these circumstances to explain behavior by use of social research to technical behavioral analysis. Such things as freezing, tunnel vision effects and odd reactions are detailed in each catastrophic circumstance. One example of a incredulous account is the story of a complete cockpit crew all mesmerized by a non-functional landing light while losing perception of their altitude is phenomenally hard to comprehend. The author even details brain studies that theorize that brain development of parts of the brain may make a difference in how people deal react to stress. One brain study contrasts sizes of different individuals' hippocampus organ to see if there is a correlation between size and behavior and the results of those amazing studies are explained in straight forward detail. One of the many hippocampus studies include the study of twins, one a veteran who suffered from post traumatic stress after a tour in Vietnam and one who did not serve in the military. What is also interesting is that the author occasionally participates in studies to learn more about herself and she shares that information with the reader. Ripley notes that the ability to train the brain, the effects of how one is raised and brain development directly determine which people freeze and why some act heroically. Many of the actual behaviors are fascinating such as the woman who didn't react at all during an emergency evacuation but much later realized she was a floor fire warden who was the one with training and who was supposed to help coordinate the evacuation. In contrast, a Vietnam Vet saves over a thousand Morgan Stanley employees because of training he provided and his ability to respond in emergency. Just absorbing detail all the way through with interesting behavior facts such as airline passengers who automatically try to take their carry on luggage during emergency evacuations, clogging up aisles, causing panic and unnecessary death. The redeeming factor, people can be trained in emergencies to act the proper way but generally the fear of investing time and resources comes into play. The subject matter moves quickly and the author gets right to the point after each explained catastrophe. The book is a very concise read loaded with fascinating case studies.

Finally! After years of being told what we have to fear in the world, it turns out that we in fact have far more control when facing horrific situations than we've been led to believe. Ripley does a great job of dissecting human behavior (for us layfolk), and the way our brains and bodies respond, in the face of disaster. Unlike other books (and the endless parade of disaster shows on cable) which leave us with a sense of impending doom, this book shows us how we can all do better -- and how we often do well by instinct, if we just take a moment to listen to ourselves... The Unthinkable is a shot in the arm; it lets us know that we have a lot of innate strength to rely on, and even throws in for good measure the smart ways to practice and prepare.

BEFORE I EVEN FINISHED READING THIS BOOK I WAS, IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT, DRAGGING A LADDER AROUND THE HOUSE AND TESTING MY SMOKE ALARMS.
JUST READ IT.

Amanda Ripley in The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes and Why has managed to write an intensely interesting book on disasters and how we react to them and in reacting to critical situations how and why some of us survive and others do not. Why do some individuals make good decisions and act calmly and others "shut down" physically or panic? It is in these reactions to disaster that determine our survival in the next few hours or days.

I have been familiar with Ripley for sometime visiting her blog pages when I have the time. As a reporter who has covered many disasters in the last decade including the attacks of 9/11 and Katrina, she has a unique insight into human behavior under stress.

One point she makes is a profound one. We have spent a tremendous amount of money for equipment and training for first responders as we should. However, during a tornado earthquake, or hurricane, for example, the first responders aren't usually on the scene. Surviving a hurricane very much depends on the individual decisions we make as individuals. If we're a head of household, our decisions may impact on the survival of our family. It is only after the fact that first responders come into play. Great point and one we should all keep in mind.

From the bodies reaction, biologically, to crisis, to real stories of survival, Unthinkable may increase our chances of survival should the "unthinkable" event occur.

I hope that Unthinkable will start a nationwide discussion about preparedness and our responsibilities for our own survival.

Peace to all.

I was at a Bass Pro shop in Denham Springs, Louisiana a few months ago
and the fire alarms went off. The shop is huge and only a handful of shoppers went down the stairs and went outside to see what the problem was. Everyone else just kept shopping. Turns out there was a fire in the kitchen of the restaurant attached to the shop. I am a nurse, my husband is a cop, and both of us were surprised at how few reacted to a potential disaster in the making.
This book will give you insight into why people behave the way they do in an emergency. I know that I don't want to be a sheep. I want to think and react, using good judgment. This is a very special book and I highly recommend it to everyone.

I heard Ms. Ripley this morning on the Diane Rehm show. She knows her subject matter well.

I spent over fifteen years training airline pilots and flight attendants in emergency procedures. And here is what I know. Facing a crisis, your first reflex is panic. If you remain in that stage, you stop thinking and if you can't think you cannot act. Everyone has a moment of panic. The trick is to move past that and begin to figure out where you are and what you should do now. And the best way to do that is to have lived this moment before in drills and in your imagination. It's not knowing what to do that will save you, it's knowing that you know what to do and have the option to save yourself.

Douglas Adams was right. Don't Panic!

Read the book. I will as soon as it arrives.

"In a disaster, would I panic?" If you are like most Americans, you have never had to go through a terrorist attack, plane crash, flood, or tornado, but also when viewing such video-rich scenes on television news, you can't help wondering what you would do if you were the one in the disaster. The good news is that no, you probably won't panic, because almost no one does. The bad news is that you are far more likely to sit and do nothing. Human response to disasters can be studied, and Amanda Ripley, a senior staffer for _Time_ magazine, has interviewed people who have been in disasters, has talked with academics who study human behavior in such extremities, and has even been through mock disasters herself. She has now written _The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes - and Why_ (Crown). There are lessons here about disasters of many kinds and people who failed to respond in a way to save themselves, but this is far from a pessimistic book. If you think of a disaster as being a scene of destruction followed by panic and every-man-for-himself selfishness relieved only when the professional rescuers show up to help, Ripley has some revelatory studies and examples to give you. "Reality is a lot more interesting," she writes, "and hopeful."

She has often translated the hopefulness in her studies into practical lessons. This is a book with a purpose, meant to change things. Panic might have been present in a small number of cases at the World Trade Center, but Ripley quotes a researcher who found that workers in the towers did the same thing that others in disasters do: "What is regularly observed is a lethargic response. People are often cool during fires, ignoring or delaying their response." On an average, those who survived the WTC attack waited six minutes before heading downstairs. Delay is part of a denial phase. "We have a tendency to believe that everything is OK because, well, it almost always has been before." The false reliance on normalcy is not completely bad. In a real disaster, Ripley writes, "Civilization holds. People move in groups whenever they can. They are usually far more polite than they are normally. They look out for one another, and they maintain hierarchies." This was all true at the fire that killed 167 of the 3,000 people packed into the Beverly Hills Supper Club in 1977. Researchers looked for selfish behavior, and didn't see it. They saw order. One said, "People used what they had learned in grade-school fire drills. `Stay in line. Don't push. We'll all get out.' People were queuing up! It was just absolutely incredible." It is part the lesson to be drawn from one of the heroes profiled here, Rick Rescorla, who put grumbling millionaire bankers through surprise fire drills at the World Trade Center for his firm Morgan Stanley. When their tower collapsed, 2,687 Morgan Stanley employees were safe, and only thirteen died. That number includes Rescorla himself, who was last seen heading back up to help more people out.

The big lesson: take emergency drills seriously. This is true for plane crashes, too; 56% of passengers in serious plane accidents survive, and you improve your odds if you pay attention to the stewardess as she shows you where the emergency exits are. Remember that bureaucracies now love technical fixes, experts, and gadgetry, but the vast majority of rescues in disasters are done by regular people caught up in them, using no special tools. Know those you live and work with and practice with them. There are lots of other good lessons here besides practice, practice, practice. Expect there to be smoke, so know how to get to a door or exit blindfolded. Use text messenging; it often will work when voice calls won't. Get in shape; speed is needed for most successful evacuations and extra weight slows people down. Ripley has produced a very readable book that dips into psychological and neurochemical explanations for human behavior now and then, but mostly deals in reports about the behavior itself, behavior that is usually explicable and often admirable. More disasters are coming. Read _The Unthinkable_, pay attention, and improve your odds.

This is a very unique, powerful, intellectually stimulating, mesmerizing, and a "MUST-READ" book. This is an historical look at some world famous and not so famous disasters that cover the gamut from ships exploding, restaurants burning, World Trade Center(s), hostage situations, tsunamis, plane crashes and more. The author has combined marvelously detailed and verified research, along with a writing style that is mixed lovingly and compassionately together, with the added touch of a not-so-subtle warning to the reader and the world, that there "ARE" things you can do to better prepare yourself and your loved ones for such catastrophes. Most books and exposes related to disasters usually revolve around the victims. This author decided to take another approach and concentrate on the survivors. The facts provided herein for the reader includes detail culled from over a thousand articles, film, and countless amazing personal interviews, with not only the survivors, but with technicians and medical professionals who have dedicated their lives to making the world a safer place to live. And if we allow ourselves to learn from the lessons meticulously detailed in these pages, then when the inevitable disaster strikes, the total amount of casualties will have a darn good chance of being reduced.

Perhaps the disaster that led to the first "systematic analysis of human behavior in a disaster", occurred on December 6, 1917 when a French freighter by the name of the "Mont Blanc" was carrying over TWENTY-FIVE-HUNDRED TONS OF EXPLOSIVES, INCLUDING TNT, was accidently rammed by another boat in Halifax harbor in Nova Scotia. What ensued was the largest bomb explosion in history at the time. "The blast shattered windows sixty miles away. Glass blinded some one- thousand people. Next, a tidal wave caused by the explosion swamped the shore. Then fire began to creep across the city. As the final epic act, a blizzard hit Halifax that evening. ONE-THOUSAND-NINE-HUNDRED-SIXTY-THREE people were killed. A local priest and scholar named Samuel Henry Prince opened his church as a triage station. "After helping rebuild Halifax, Prince moved to New York City to study sociology. For his PhD dissertation at Columbia University, he deconstructed the Halifax explosion. "Catastrophe and Social Change", published in 1920.

From there the author examines every aspect of disaster survival and study. The book is broken into three main areas: 1) DENIAL 2) DELIBERATION 3) THE DECISIVE MOMENT. In addition to the emotionally gripping interviews of survivor's what really fascinated me is the study of the human brain. The things the brain does automatically during disaster and distress, and what it can be "trained" to do. One of the more simplistic yet eye-opening studies showed that people who learned how to juggle "actually increased the gray matter in their brains in certain locations. When they stopped juggling, the new gray matter vanished." There was even one portion of the book that may have shed some light on a question that I didn't really know that I've been carrying around somewhere inside of me for over thirty years. When I was in the military, before being selected for a classified mission, I was given a list of random five-digit-numbers to memorize, and then I was run through a number of high risk operations, such as having a machine gun shoot live rounds all around my feet, being put in a bunker without a gas mask and have tear gas released. After those events I was tested to see if I remembered the numbers. That part I understood. But until this book, I forgot that they had taken blood samples from me. They never told me why... and they never told me the results. Well this book goes into some of the ways unique individuals are chosen for today's military Special Forces. One of the factors is a blood test to check on levels of "NEUROPEPTIDE Y" "a compound that helps you stay focused on a task under stress, among other things." Even after heavy stress certain unique individual's levels remain high, where others "NEUROPEPTIDE Y" are low or depleted. AS I've found out over the years there are many things that the government has at their disposal that is not shared for many years. All I know is that I was selected for my mission very quickly.

This author also delves into both sides of the spectrum, heroes and people who panic, and some who actually enter a paralyzed state. As I mentioned earlier, this book covers the disaster in Nova Scotia in 1917 all the way up through Katrina and the Virginia Tech massacre. This is a unique subject matter discussed from a singular perspective, and that's the power and essence of this book. It makes you "THINK AND FEEL" about some pretty important and scary things!

I have often wondered how I would react in a disaster. Would I freeze and be unable to move? Would I get myself to safety, however possible? Would I help others to safety?

Although we can not know with certainty until faced with disaster, this book gives clues about how and why we humans react to the "unthinkable": disasters such as plane crashes, fires, tsunamis, and terrorist attacks, as well as smaller-scale crises, such as automobile accidents.

Some disasters are not survivable. This book, though, explores why some people survive while others perish in the same circumstances, and describes the behaviors and choices that cause many to die needlessly.

"The Unthinkable" describes disasters that cumulatively resulted in the loss of hundreds of thousands of lives; however, it is not a morbid tale of death, but an inspiring story of humans responding and adapting to situations and saving their own lives or the lives of those around them.

The key lesson to take from this book is the need to be prepared. Those who anticipate possible disaster and know what to do and how to do it are more confident if and when the disaster occurs. We can not prepare for every possible type of danger, but simple things such as learning where the exits are when in an unfamiliar place can mean the difference between surviving or not.

After reading "The Unthinkable," my thinking about what it means to be prepared for disaster has changed. For example, I probably pay more attention to things such as airline safety videos than the average passenger, but on future flights I will spend more time really learning my surroundings, such as counting the rows to the nearest exits. And I believe that by understanding our natural responses to danger, I can teach myself to be more mentally prepared to act, and not sit passively waiting for someone else to do something.

Just as Gavin deBecker's book, The Gift of Fear, helped me to learn the importance of listening to and trusting my instincts, "The Unthinkable" has shown me how we, as "regular people," can prepare and train ourselves to survive a disaster. I highly recommend both of these books. Reading them could save your life.

Cathy Stucker

The Unthinkable is a fascinating story about how people behave when their lives are on the line. The best thing about it is that it's not just incredibly informative, but it is also laced with incredible tales about situations you'd never want to encounter and how ordinary people found their way (or didn't, unfortunately). It points out the failure of our government's policies to empower ordinary people with the information and skills they need to survive in disasters, even though it's ordinary people who are almost always on the front lines. And it contains statistics that will change how you view the world - that 50% of plane crashes have survivors, for example. It's made me more careful when I cross the street and less anxious when a plane I'm on lands.

The Unthinkable is a particularly important book for anyone with children because it has clear advice for how to deal with unexpected dangers.

Mostly, The Unthinkable is an uplifting book that will make everyone who reads it feel more prepared and in control should they encounter the catastrophic and unexpected.

Sometime in the last 40 years, somewhere in the spectrum between John McPhee and, say, Richard Preston, nonfiction began to read like fiction. But it became better than fiction, because the narrative, as astonishing as it is, has the virtue of being true. "The Unthinkable" is a wonderful book for many reasons, and along these lines. Here are two reasons.

First, Ripley's writing is as gripping and well-paced as great fiction (yet it has the virtue of being true). From the first page -- zip zoom -- you're in Halifax in 1917, it's quiet, and then not so quiet, and then too quiet. The narrative lift is astonishing.

Second, for many reasons, time-tested scientific disciplines are no longer testing well. Biology meets physics. Robotics meets synthetic chemistry. Computer science meets everything. In The Unthinkable, nature, human psychology, and engineering all meet to create a new kind of science for the post-9/11 era.

(In disclosure, I know Ripley. This also means that I know an enormous number of other people who write books, but this one is superlative -- this is the first amazon nonfiction review I've written.)

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I wish that I could give this book six stars; it is not just an outstanding book, but its usefulness in today's times is unparalleled. It is a book about what our brains do during disasters and how we react as unpredictable individuals, which is something that science and technology do not always take into consideration.

It is not dry or dull like some books about "emergency preparedness" or "crisis management" that are more like texts or reference books. No, this is a nonfiction thriller told through fascinating stories of actual disasters in which exactly how our brains react is illustrated. It's a book about behavior, especially the behavior of regular, ordinary people, who are actually the most important people when a disaster strikes (and you'll find out why).

For example, the book doesn't just detail what to do when a tsunami strikes, or when a hurricane warning is issued, but how you will be thinking differently, how you may be confused, what brain-related problems you might have---like paralysis, temporary blindness, an apparent slowing down of time, tunnel vision, etc.

What makes some people resilient and why do they do so much better than others? The author explores this. How do groups react in a crisis? How do we process risk? Have you ever wondered why people don't evacuate when there is a disaster warning? Again, you'll find many of these answers explored here.

The author interviewed survivors of many different types of disasters (e.g., bombings, 9/11, crowd crushes, airplane fires, nightclub fires, and so many more) and THIS is what THEY wanted us to know; there were so many commonalities across the different crisis scenarios, but the survivors had no way of sharing these commonalities and principles with the general public. It's what the survivors wished they had known beforehand so that they could have been more prepared. The author has gathered this information and coordinated it with current brain research in this remarkable, unique book.

There is information about how to deal with each phase of the "survival arc"---from denial, to deliberation, to the decisive moment.

The reason you should buy and read this book, the reason you should buy copies for your friends, is so that you and they will be truly mentally prepared...for the unthinkable. I don't know about you, but I want to be not afraid and filled with doom and gloom, but relaxed, alert, and as ready as I can be. Reading this book does not increase my anxiety about the future as you might think, but decreases it, as I feel more competent---like I've learned valuable, valuable mental skills and principles to get me through what might come.

This book will save lives. Get it.

I have reviewed hundreds of books, and of all of them, I'd give this one my highest recommended...and six stars.
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