Hi everybody -

I'm a fiction writer, and I'm working on a book right now in which one of my main characters is a survival prepper. I've been reading forums and websites, and have picked up lots of great info, but the book is set in 1997, so I know the topics (and especially the jargon) I'm finding isn't actually correct for the time period I'm writing. Can anybody recommend any older books etc. that I can check out to get a better feel for that time frame?

Thanks in advance!!

There were a lot of advances in the electronics area since then (DVD, cell phones, GPS, etc.). Molle was created in 1997 for the military, but not in wide use on backpacks like it is today.

Here's a backpacking book written in 1999:

http://www.amazon.com/Backpackers-Start-Up-Beginners-Hiking-Backpacking/dp/188465410X/

Also this 1997 timeline may help:

http://timelines.com/1997

If you can find someone with old copies of "American Survival Guide" from that time period I think you could get a lot of good information on the ideas and attitudes of the time.

The first few books of "The Survivalist" series by Jerry Ahern should give you an idea of the fears and objectives of the survivalists of the era. The later books slide into science fiction.

There just aren't that many books about survivalists in that time frame. Y2K was coming up and there were a couple of books about the potential disaster if the computers shut down, but that is a pretty limited scenario.

I've been involved in preparedness since the early seventies, so if you have any specific questions feel free to contact me via PM and I'll help you out all I can.

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Jerry D Young

Thank you for such great information already! This timeline site will actually come in handy for a lot more writing projects than just this book--I can't believe I didn't already know about it!

And Jerry, I will very likely take you up on that offer of personal help once I have some more written on the character from my new research and have specific questions--thank you so much for the generous offer!

Any time.

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Jerry D Young

Glad to be of help.