When Technology Fails (Revised & Expanded): A Manual for Self-Reliance, Sustainability, and Surviving the Long Emergency

Throughout the book you'll find personal stories accompanying the text to further illustrate or drive home a point. The use of these asides brings you into Matthew Stein's life, as he recounts personal stories of survival and tells the stories of others who have managed to overcome the odds to survive.

Not just a survival book, Matthew also covers topics like alternative therapies; how to create a survival mindset; survival strategies; renewable energy; companion gardening; prophecies etc. as well as all the regular topics found in such books - edible plants; first aid; making a survival kit; growing, hunting and foraging; making tools; creating shelters; spinning/weaving/tanning etc.

The book has some great illustrations that make plant identification and first aid that much easier to understand and each chapter finishes with a reference section listing books (along with a short review) and resources (with web addresses where available).

This book is supposed to have been 15 years in the making - and the time and effort taken by the author to research his topic really shows. When Technology Fails belongs in your survival library - as the publisher says, "it's a user-friendly manual for the 21st Century".


This book is a Keeper   January 10, 2001
MtnRick (Lake Tahoe, CA)
30 out of 31 found this review helpful

I'm the kind of guy that wants to understand how things work- I'm not an engineer or anything like that- I'm just a regular guy. One of the things about our modern society that concerns me the most, is as new technology makes our lives simpler, we (the people not involved in implimenting the new technology) lose track of how things really work. This book is a handbook that describes the systems and techniques that our grandparents once knew and we (as members of modern society) have never learned.

There are a lot of books out there that focus on singular aspects of what this author undertakes. I have not ever seen a book as comprehensive as this on the subject. Although the author is an engineer, the book is written for the layperson- and he does a great job doing it. It shows; he has extensively researched all of his topics and offers a huge reference section at the end of each of his chapters.

This author has a keen understanding of where the modern world is going- if something isn't quickly done to change its course; but rather than just complaining about the problems the world faces, he offers time proven solutions that every one of us can utilize, on our own.

With the threat of higher utility bills on the horizon, the timing of this book is uncanny. I truely believe that this may be one of the best books to have in the reference section of your personal library!


Stein succeeds where technology fails   January 11, 2001
26 out of 27 found this review helpful

When Technology Fails

A good engineer understands technological theory and is able to apply it in the real world. A good teacher helps other people grasp an abstract idea and its concrete manifestations. A good writer can get an idea across to the reader.

In his new book "When Technology Fails", Matthew Stein succeeds as an engineer, teacher and writer. He demonstrates his broad knowledge of the field of self-reliance. He helped me better understand self-reliance concepts and, especially, their many applications. He writes clearly and concisely. It's a good how-to and why-to book. It does remind me of The Whole Earth Catalogue as the jacket suggests, but it covers many topics more deeply than its predecessor. The extensive bibliography makes it an excellent reference source if you want to explore a topic more, but one gets plenty of practical advice without going further. It also reminded me of my old scout handbook, loaded with self-reliance tips for everything from emergency survival to first aid to energy efficient, low-cost housing. I'm not wild about the book's title. Stein is an MIT-trained engineer, not a survivalist reactionary. The book also provides low-tech, not no-tech solutions.

When Technology Fails is a well-written, useful source of information and ideas for both the neophyte and old pro interested in becoming more self-reliant.


Now in a newly revised and substantially expanded edition   March 13, 2001
Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA)
23 out of 26 found this review helpful

Everyone has experienced the abrupt interruption of their daily lives when the power goes out. That temporary termination of electricity is the most commonly encountered example of how our lives are affected when our technology fails. That's why in the age of the electric lightbulb we still buy candles. Now in a newly revised and substantially expanded edition, "When Technology Fails: A Manual For Self-Reliance, Sustainability, And Surviving The Long Emergency" by engineer and building contractor Matthew Stein provides a comprehensive and thoroughly 'user friendly' instruction guide to preparing for both temporary and extended technology collapses and dramatic adjustments necessitated by local phenomena and global environmental trends ranging from the inevitable diminishment of petroleum as a source of energy, to climate change, to economic collapse. Addressing issues ranging from self-reliance, to emergency survival, to low-tech medicine and health, to water quality and treatment, to shelter, food, clothing, low-tech chemistry, and more, "When Technology Fails" is invaluable and a core addition to personal and community library reference collections.



When Technology Fails: A Manual for Self-Reliance and Planetary Survival   February 24, 2006
Mike Reddy (Midwest)
19 out of 22 found this review helpful

Excellent book for a wide range of topics related to survival. If you have read other survival books this one is more geared to pre-preperation and survival on a homefront or fixed location rather than finding yourself in a survival situation while traveling. However much of the information is usuable in a variety of situations and it appears more up to date than others. It also has plenty of info for use in non emergency/survival situation such as gardening and alternative energy generation etc...