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The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes - and Why | 
 enlarge | Author: Amanda Ripley
Publisher: Crown
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
Buy New: $14.47
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Avg. Customer Rating:  17 reviews
Sales Rank: 356
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 (New: Last 30 Days)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: ALL BOOKS ARE BRAND NEW!
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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 12 more reviews...
The Unthinkable July 7, 2008
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
1 out of 2 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.
This Book Can Save Your Life, Let You Sleep Better at Night, and Learn How to Improve in All Areas July 2, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
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!
Excellent book June 28, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
This is a really excellent book by Amanda Ripley. It is full of research, interviews, and real-life examples. I read this book in just a few days and couldn't put it down. I will recommend this book to everyone I know. I'm confident that the knowledge I have gained from reading this book will come in handy if I ever find myself in a disaster situation.
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