Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why

This book took me three sessions to complete only because I didn't have the opportunity to do it in one. This has to be a classic in the genre of "survival literature."

The various chapters include great stories of disaster and survival sifted through a matrix of what we know about the psychology and physiology of how humans deal with situations involving mortal danger. All of this culminates in an appendix where the author distills 12 Rules of Survival, the commonalities of thought and behavior that characterize those who survive life-threatening crises.

I have read that this text is being used in Navy SEAL training as well as among law enforcement and firefighting agencies. Finally, it hasn't escaped notice that the patterns of "deep survival" discussed in this book can be applied to many severe challenges that everyday life can throw at you.

One of the strengths of this book is the in-depth analysis of an event and how the people involved interpreted each thing that occurred, step by step, right or wrong so I can see how this book would be useful for anyone teaching others about survival. I also like the fact that Gonzales encourages listening to our "intuition" or inner self that tells us when something isn't right such as when we question if we're traveling in the wrong direction or sense that the weather is about to change. This is a 'meaty' book worth digesting slowly.