That you can download and have handy on your cell phone. The Green Beret Pocket-Sized Survival Guide. These are the other books free or discount
Some people you find in research and you know immediately they’re going into a book. Sally Skull was one of those. Born Sarah Jane Newman
I find that’s a tough question. For the first time, I’ve delayed publication of a book for three weeks. Deep Winter was supposed to be
Days before he was killed, Abraham Lincoln reportedly described a dream to his bodyguard. In the dream, he was walking through the White House. The
A recent DOD directive has military posts preparing to survive 90 days if the grid goes down. I don’ think they’re going to find that
The heat finally broke here; but we’re still pretty much in a drought. One day of rain since the beginning of August. So we’ve got
The fantasy is the truck loaded, the family aboard, the city shrinking in the mirror. The reality is four lanes of stopped traffic, a quarter
In Lebanon’s Beqaa Valley, the Roman temples of Baalbek sit on a platform containing three limestone blocks—the Trilithon—each weighing roughly 800 tons. They’re 64 feet
The Ark of the Covenant is the rare mystery with detailed specs. Per the Book of Exodus: acacia wood overlaid with pure gold, about 4
After the Battle of Shiloh in April 1862, wounded men lay out in the mud through a cold, rainy night waiting for help that was
John Lincoln Clem ran away from his home in Newark, Ohio, and joined the Union Army as a drummer boy. He was supposedly nine years
Puma Punku sits in the Bolivian Andes at nearly 13,000 feet, part of the Tiwanaku site. Its stonework is what draws the attention: granite and
Everything we know about Atlantis traces to one source: Plato, writing around 360 BCE in the Timaeus and Critias. A circular island empire beyond the
Salem, 1692. The image everyone carries is women tied to stakes and flames going up. Not one person was burned at Salem. Nineteen people were
In 1992, a farmer in China’s Zhejiang Province drained what he thought were ponds. They were the flooded upper levels of enormous artificial caverns—24 caves
Eat your carrots and you will see in the dark. Every child hears it. It is the most successful piece of nutritional advice in the
Annie Jacobsen’s Biological War is the most frightening book I’ve read this year just as Nuclear War was last year. She really knows how to
Halloween, birthday parties, any gathering with cake. The commentary writes itself: they are going to be bouncing off the walls, do not give them any
My mother worked in the Empire State Building during World War II. Fortunately she wasn’t there on 28 July 1945. It was a Saturday. Normally
There is a snakebite kit in a lot of first aid bags. The little plastic case with the suction cups. Take it out and throw
The Nazca of southern Peru carved a hummingbird 300 feet long, a spider 150 feet across, and a condor with a 440-foot wingspan into the
On July 17, 1864, Jefferson Davis relieved General Joseph Johnston of command of the army defending Atlanta and replaced him with John Bell Hood. It
We think of the South when we talk about American slavery. In 1703, New York City ranked second in the colonies by percentage of enslaved
Between roughly 800 and 1000 CE, the great Maya cities of the southern lowlands—Tikal, Calakmul, Copán, Palenque—were abandoned. Populations dispersed. The jungle took the monuments.
In November 2006, former Russian intelligence officer Alexander Litvinenko drank tea in a London hotel bar. Three weeks later he was dead. The weapon was
The bluestones of Stonehenge weigh four tons each and came from the Preseli Hills of Wales—150 miles from Salisbury Plain. The builders had no metal
We remember Sherman as the man who never lost. That’s not quite the record. On June 27, 1864, he ordered a frontal assault on entrenched
As fall finally arrives and we escape the heat dome that’s been covering our farm (well, not just us, not taking it personally, but still)
The hull breaches. Someone gets pulled out into the void and freezes solid, or explodes, or both, in about a second and a half. The
The Green Beret Preparation and Survival Guide is free through the 22nd. Given climate change and recent disasters, you know you need to be better
The brown bottle has been in medicine cabinets for a century. Cut yourself, pour it on, watch it foam. The foaming feels like proof. The
Every army trails a shadow. Sherman’s army called their foragers bummers—detachments sent out to strip the countryside of food and forage, which was policy. But
Before the High Line was a park, it was a solution to a body count. The first rail tracks on the lower west side ran
Here’s a piece of Andersonville history most people don’t know. The greatest immediate danger to a prisoner in the summer of 1864 wasn’t the guards.
On 15 June 1904 the *General Slocum* left a Manhattan dock carrying 1,358 passengers plus crew to a church picnic on the north shore of
On a ridge in southeastern Turkey stands the oldest known monumental architecture in the world. Göbekli Tepe dates to 9500-8000 BCE. That’s six thousand years
On November 15, 1864, Sherman marched out of a burning Atlanta with about 62,000 men and cut himself off from his own supply line—a thing
By the early nineteenth century, the streams and ponds that once covered Manhattan had mostly been filled in and built over. What remained was overused
The Great Pyramid of Giza contains an estimated 2.3 million stone blocks averaging 2.5 tons each. Conservative estimates say it was built in twenty years.
Someone does not come home. You call the police, and somewhere in the back of your mind is the thing everyone knows: they will not
In August 1996, Dartmouth chemistry professor Karen Wetterhahn spilled a small amount of dimethylmercury on her latex glove. She was working in a fume hood,
A new chapter in the Area 51 series comes out today; Empire Falls, but it’s actually a prequel. A novella set well before the start
On the morning of June 30, 1908, something exploded over the Siberian taiga with a force of 10 to 15 megatons—about a thousand Hiroshimas. It
Pick up ten survival books and nine of them will tell you the same things about water, fire, shelter, and food. All of it correct.
I’ve visited a lot of Civil War sites. Battlefields have a terrible dignity to them. Andersonville is different. It’s not a battlefield. It’s a prison,
Everybody knows the moment. First Bull Run, July 1861. Confederate General Barnard Bee sees Thomas Jackson’s brigade holding firm against a Union assault and shouts,
Is it just me, or did anyone else call it Hells Gate? I did, for years. It’s Hell Gate. It’s where the East River meets
On the morning of April 6, 1862, a Confederate army came out of the woods at Pittsburg Landing, Tennessee, and by nightfall more Americans had
In 524 BCE, Persian King Cambyses II sent 50,000 soldiers across the Egyptian desert to destroy the oracle of Amun at Siwa Oasis, which had
There was the fear that leaving a tourniquet on led to limb loss. So there was guidance to loosen it every so often. That is
Easter Island—Rapa Nui to its people—holds nearly 900 monolithic statues carved between roughly 1250 and 1500 CE. They average 13 feet and 14 tons. The
The man who saved the United States was named U.S. Grant by a clerical error. He was born Hiram Ulysses Grant in Ohio on April
At Los Alamos there was a sphere of plutonium-239 that killed two men in nine months. Afterward, they called it the Demon Core. The first
It has stained glass, tiled vaults, and brass chandeliers. It’s been closed since 1945. The City Hall station sits under City Hall Park, and it
At 4:30 in the morning on April 12, 1861, Confederate guns opened on Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor and the Civil War began. The shot
In 1974, Chinese farmers digging a well near Xi’an broke into the tomb complex of Qin Shi Huang, China’s first emperor, dead since 210 BCE.
Shane and Phoebe Versus The Assassins is out today. A novella, it closes out a loose end from the end in the previous story. Shane
If you are caught in the open during a thunderstorm, you have probably been taught to crouch. Balls of the feet, heels together, head down,
Yale’s Beinecke Library holds a 240-page book written in an alphabet no one has ever identified, illustrated with plants that don’t exist. Radiocarbon dating puts
I grew up in the Bronx. I went to City Island plenty of times, rode my bike out to Orchard Beach, learned to drive in
Most novels, TV series, and films in this genre do you a favor. They kill almost everyone in the first chapter—an asteroid, a plague, something
On the Fourth of July, 1826, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams died within hours of each other, fifty years to the day after the Declaration
I fact-check my nonfiction books every so often because things change. And this is a big change, but it makes sense. The old way to
Every situation is different, so this is a guideline, not a checklist you follow off a card. But the order matters, and most people get
In 1901, sponge divers working off the Greek island of Antikythera found a shipwreck. Among the statues and pottery was a corroded lump of bronze
Food expiration dates: There are some things to understand about this. First, there are several terms stamped on the food. This is what they mean:
According to Douglas S. Freeman’s biography, the oath Lee signed on September 25, 1825 upon admission to West Point read: “I, Robert E. Lee, a
I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend. My latest novella, Red Rain, published this past week. It takes place well before the start of Lavender’s
Fresh vegetables represent peak nutrition — just picked, just purchased, the full complement of vitamins and minerals intact. Frozen vegetables are a compromise: processed, degraded,
Because it is counterintuitive until you understand what it is. What is survivor bias? During World War II, the military wanted to add armor to
Excerpted from You’re Doing It Wrong: Dump the Myths, Misconceptions, and Bad Advice You Believe, The math looks clean. Fat stores represent stored calories. Eat
Interspersed in Slow Fall are “Elsewhere” scenarios where I present what is happening during a slow collapse of civilization. This is one: SOMEWHERE IN NEBRASKA
The Green Beret Guide for Success if free today through the 14th. **In tough times, it’s the tough who succeed.** What makes a Green Beret
At grocery stores across the country, brown eggs command a premium price over white eggs from the same display case. Consumers select them with the
There’s a Facebook post going around about a group of Marines and children in the Pentagon on 9-11. It’s a nice story, heart-warming, etc. It’s
In cold-weather folklore, the flask of whiskey is standard equipment. Stranded in a blizzard? Brandy warms you from the inside. The Saint Bernard carries a
The advice has circulated in safety articles, on social media, and in well-meaning emails forwarded among people for years. If your car goes into the
I hope everyone is enjoying their long, hot weekend. It’s hot here and it seems it’s hot everywhere. Stay cool. Stay hydrated. In celebration, I’ve
Excerpted from You’re Doing It Wrong. It’s one of those first aid instructions so widely practiced that it feels officially sanctioned: nosebleed? Tilt your head
Excerpt from You’re Doing It Wrong This was one I learned from my father on the old ’64 Valiant with three on the column– a
Excerpt from You’re Doing It Wrong Rinse the chicken before it goes in the pan. Remove bacteria, remove the residue from the packaging, get it
Excerpted from You’re Doing It Wrong This is one that seems logical, but most have it wrong. I did. Premium gasoline costs more per gallon.
Excerpted from You’re Doing It Wrong The phrase comes from an old folk remedy for rabies: treat a bite from a rabid dog by applying
Excerpted from: You’re Doing It Wrong: Dump the Myths, Misconceptions and Bad Advice You Believe I use words for a living and even I was
Excerpted from You’re Doing It Wrong: Dump the Myths, Misconceptions and Bad Advice You Believe This is one of my pet peeves. In Against All
Excerpt from You’re Doing It Wrong: Dump the Myths, Misconceptions, and Bad Advice You Believe Coffee is a diuretic; therefore, coffee dehydrates you; therefore, coffee
This was one of the reasons I wrote You’re Doing It Wrong: Dump the Myths, Misconceptions, and Bad Advice You Believe. This is an excerpt
You’re Doing It Wrong: Dump the Myths, Misconceptions, and Bad Advice You Believe is live today. Honestly, I had about half of these wrong or
Every so often a show comes along that has no business working as well as it does, and Apple TV+’s Widow’s Bay is exactly that
FREE today through the 21st. I wrote The Jefferson Allegiance in 2013, but it is truer than ever. Jefferson and Hamilton, enemies, united in one
This is an excerpt from my latest novel, Slow Fall. SOMEWHERE IN NEBRASKA The Chat-n-Chew on the main square opened at six in the morning
D-Day (Time Patrol) is free today through the 9th along with The Gate. Two of my favorite thrillers that contain considerable history. There are also
This is the author’s note at the beginning of my latest novel, Slow Fall. Most novels, tv series and films in this genre do you
In my newest book, Slow Fall, I have excerpts titled “Elsewhere” with vignettes from various places as civilization collapses. One is a couple in Manhattan.
The first book in my new Green Beret survival series, Slow Fall, is out today. The preorder for the second book, Deep Winter, is also
While the majority of the book follows five characters through the collapse of civilization, I also do several “elsewhere” in the world scenes. This is
The first book in a new series, Slow Fall, publishes on Thursday. It’s about the collapse of civilization in the most terrifying way: slowly and
As usual, there are a number of books free today. Chief among them are New York Minute and the first book in the Atlantis series. I’ve also got pre-orders
“It is only those who have neither fired a shot nor heard the shrieks and groans of the wounded who cry aloud for blood, more
Howl: WT Sherman’s Monster Hunters is out today. It is also in Kindle Unlimited. Howl is an examination of evil in warfare and also, redemption.
