"Cooking through the Centuries" is a cookbook not a recipe book. Although we have included around 415 recipes the number one goal of "Cooking through the Centuries" is to show how our ancestors and the Native Americans survived without gas stoves, ovens and refrigerators. In order to do this we have taken excerpts from Journals, cookbooks and magazines from as far back as the 1600's. These Folks had to cook over open fires, and use fresh or preserved foods. In a long-term survival situation we will find ourselves in much the same situation. Who better to learn from than our ancestors and Native Americans? You will find that they not only survive but, in most cases, lived very well using these methods. In many ways they actually ate better than we do today.

In a long term survival situation, hunting, fishing and trapping will be they only way you will be able to feed your family and/or Group. There will be no supermarket to run down to and pick up something for supper. If your Family or Group is to eat then you or someone in the Group will have to provide the food.

Hunting, fishing or trapping will be your only source of meat

In the "Preparing to Survive" book series we assume the United States has suffered a National catastrophic event. We assume the worst case event. This would be an event that has destroyed the power grid thereby destroying the National infrastructure. As a result there is no electricity, which in turn causes a cascading effect resulting in no water being pumped through public water systems, supermarket shelves or stripped bare, hospitals being unable to function, no fuel, no communication and no police or any authority. In other words life as we know it has been thrown back a hundred years. This will inevitably lead to anarchy throughout the U.S. Mobs and Gangs will be ruling the streets. The only way for you and your family to survive is to get out of harm's way. You must a have a prearranged evacuation point with cached supplies where you can survive long term. "Out of Harm's Way" Books 1 & 2 described how to accomplish this.

With the "Preparing to Survive" book series our goal is to provide you with more detailed information that will help you in developing skills necessary for you and your Group to survive long term.

In this, the first book of ten we will cover Hunting, Fishing and Trapping. In this book we will cover skills that are as old as man himself. After all long before there were supermarkets man was out foraging for food, either gathering edible plants or hunting, trapping, and fishing. Most of this information comes from writers in the earlier 1900's or late 1800's. I feel that these Authors' situations more closely fit the conditions you will be facing. Most of today's Authors cater to trophy or sports hunters and fishermen rather than someone hunting or fishing to feed their family. You will find the information in this book is geared towards survival, long term survival. You are after meat not a trophy.

When you stop and think about it the only people with true long term survival experience are our Ancestors. By Ancestors I am referring to the Pilgrims, and Pioneers that explored and settled this country. They were the original survivalists. For the most part they not only survived but eventually they flourished. We are evidence of this. With this realization I decided to try and discover just how our Ancestors survived. In researching I have searched literally hundreds of old books, journals, newspapers and magazines. I discovered that what the early pioneers survived were hardships that would be difficult for us today to even imagine. Just try and imagine uprooting your family and starting out on a journey of three or four hundred miles to an unknown wilderness. To make matters worse, you must travel on foot with only the supplies on your back. Once you arrived at your new home site the only tools you had would be an axe. Now think of doing this with a young wife and children. To compound your problem you must be every mindful of hostile Indians. What they accomplished in many cases is actually beyond belief. The answer as to how they survived is actually pretty simple, willpower and perseverance, "Voices From the Past" is compiled of true accounts of actual events. We have taken excerpts from books, journals, newspapers, magazines from the 1600's, 1700's and the 1800's. We have tried to present this in a manner that will not only instruct but also entertain. We start by explaining their daily living conditions, how they actually lived. We then present true accounts on events that actually occurred. We start in the 1600's and follow events through the late 1800's. In this way we hope to show how each generation progressed...

My number one goal with "Why Prepare to Survive?" is to bring to your attention the many National Catastrophic events the Government is presently warning citizens of the U.S. to prepare for. In order for me to accomplish this goal you must realize that these are events the Government categorized as imminent, in other words these are events that the Government is preparing for. These are events the Government says will occur, not if they will occur. With this realization should come the realization that you should prepare yourself and your family to survive.

In order to accomplish this goal I have compiled excerpts from high level government meeting, Departmental reports as well as Congressional meetings and hearings. This is information that is readily available to the general public.

In reading these excerpts you will see the deplorable state of our National Infrastructure. You will learn that just a few years ago the U.S. National Infrastructure was rated number one in the World, we are now rated twenty-third in the world. You will see this is simply due to lack of maintenance. You will also understand how this makes the U.S. very vulnerable to attack or natural disasters.

In reading these excerpts you will see that the more technologically advanced we become the more vulnerable the nation becomes. For instance a Terrorist in front of a computer five thousand miles from the U.S. now has the very real potential of shutting down our entire power grid. You will also see why the national power grid is now considered by many to be the U.S.'s Achilles' heel. Not only is it our Achilles' heel it is also one of the most vulnerable sectors in our National Infrastructure. You will understand, without a fully functional power grid the U.S. will be paralyzed, forced back to the 1800's instantly.

You will see that in today's world it is relatively easy to procure the materials for a dirty bomb, biological or chemical bomb, or even a nuclear weapon. You will also see many prominent scientists are saying we are long overdue for a catastrophic earthquake.

Then there is the influenza pandemic that the Government and scientists say will without doubt occur. This pandemic is predicted to cause from 200,000 to 2 million deaths in the U.S. alone.

Last, but not least, is the danger we are seeing today and that is the danger of an economic collapse. I go into detail with facts and figures on the economy, foreclosures, unemployment, and Government debt.

You will learn that all of these events are events that the Government is telling the U.S. Citizens to prepare for.

Why Preparing To Survive compiles all of this information into a single source

Regardless of what you may have heard short-term survival, we are talking two or three days up to ten days, is really quite simple. Don't get me wrong I am not trying to diminish the danger of a short-term survival situation. All I am saying is that unless you are injured or in a harsh environment survival is not going to be as difficult as you have probably been led to believe.

Our goal with "Short-Term Survival Guide" is to debunk some of the erroneous information that is out there concerning short-term survival. Many of the survival sights as well as many of the survival books would lead you to believe that if you become stranded or lost for whatever reason your life is in imminent peril. They lead you to believe that without food or water you will perish within hours, this is a completely false concept. This is a dangerous concept which leads to panic. Panic is greatest danger is a survival situation.

You don't have to go to a survival camp to learn how to survive. You don't need to learn to rub two sticks together to start a fire, or how to make a solar still in order to have water. We explain how you can prepare so with a few simple items you won't have rub sticks together, eat bugs or drink contaminated water.