The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes - and Why
by Amanda Ripley
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Book Summary Information
Author: Amanda RipleyEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2008-06-10
ISBN: 0307352897
Number of pages: 288
Publisher: Crown
Book Reviews of The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes - and Why
Book Review: This Book Can Save Your Life, Let You Sleep Better at Night, and Learn How to Improve in All Areas
Summary: 5 Stars
This is the best non-fiction book you are likely to read this year.
I was attracted to this book because I have been in bad car accidents and two hotel fires, once had the airplane window near me break during a flight, designed the plan for an event where the safety team saved two children's lives, and have driven through many dangerous blizzards where every other car was spinning off the road out of control. From those experiences, I learned to appreciate that there were good and bad features about my reactions during those stressful times. I was also astonished to see how many people would have been injured or killed if someone hadn't taken fast and insistent action.
Needless to say, I'm convinced that I will have experiences like these again in the future and wanted to be better prepared. I was very pleased with what I learned as Ms. Ripley explained the psychology and physiology of dealing with various life-threatening situations. With this added information, I'm sure I'll make faster and better decisions in the future . . . and implement those decisions better.
Many books written by journalists about serious subjects don't get much below the surface of who, what, when, where, why, and how of events they wish to use as set pieces. Ms. Ripley is the happy exception to that rule. This author really thinks about what she is studying and went all over the world to gain more information. In addition, she writes well.
I was very impressed by how well she expressed the problem of human beings not knowing what to do if they haven't thought about a problem before or haven't had experience in an area. This is a subject of much interest to me because it is the main barrier to people grasping important opportunities that they are ignoring.
I hope that Ms. Ripley will consider writing a book that looks at why people don't seize opportunities when they are not in a threatening situation. I believe that her recommendations for better leadership, more preparation, clearer directions, advance experience with simulations, and knowing yourself better would apply to that class of problems as well. By combining the two perspectives, I think she could help us understand how to be more successful, as well as safer.
Brava, Ms. Ripley!
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